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Pakistani filmmaker's Darling makes it to Venice Film Festival

Pakistani filmmaker's Darling makes it to Venice Film Festival

Darling is set in a dance theater in Lahore and unravels the story of a young boy and a trans girl.
Updated 29 Jul, 2019

Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq’s masterpiece Darling has made it to the esteemed Venice Film Festival, the world’s oldest film festival.

With the City of Gardens as its backdrop, Darling is set in a dance theater in Lahore and unravels the story of a young boy and a trans girl. Breaking conventional heteronormative narratives, Darling highlights experiences that often go unheard.

Sadiq's film is the first ever Pakistani film to make the cut for one of the Big Three film festivals: Cannes, Berlin and Venice. Darling's cast includes upcoming actress Mehar Bano and Nadia Afgan of Suno Chanda.

The main leads are Shani, played by Abdullah Malik, and Alina, played by Alina, a trans girl from Lahore who makes her acting debut with this film.

The director, Saim Sadiq, is a 28 year-old filmmaker from Lahore and a graduate student enrolled at Columbia University in New York. Mahak Jiwani and Nadia Afgan are the film's producers, with Fahad Nabi and Jasmin Tennuci co-producing. Producer of Cake and Laal Kabootar, Mo Azmi, is the director of photography.

What is particularly commendable about Sadiq's project is that it is truly representational.

The director, Saim Sadiq.
The director, Saim Sadiq.

In the past, we have seen projects where individuals belonging to privileged groups have played and represented experiences of disenfranchised groups, hoping to give them a voice.

But if anything, this overshadows the narrative of the marginalised and muffles their voices which are rarely being heard.

With Shani being played by Abdullah Malik, and Alina being played by Alina, a trans girl from Lahore, the mic is ACTUALLY being passed to those at the margins and we could not be happier.

Darling will premiere in Venice in September 2019.

Comments

Shazad Khalid Jul 26, 2019 06:36pm
Best of Luck, Can't wait to see it
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Ana Wagh Jul 26, 2019 10:00pm
Where can this be watched in the US ?
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Salman Jul 27, 2019 12:12am
Great subject Kudos on the originality Will be watching when available
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Rimsha Jul 27, 2019 11:27am
Where can i watch its trailer or anything?
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Jonathan Menezes Aug 04, 2019 03:11am
Very proud of this young generation of film makers that are showing their independent talents not to follow the same boring subjects made by the usual suspects of the declining Pakistan film industry. The present crop of film makers are determined to only make stories based on romance & dancing. The actors who accept these projects are not qualified to be called actors as these safe roles project there zero talents. They want to act in safe films and refuse challenging roles and then mass market with selfies and other cheap promotions of themselves. In 2019 there has been no Pakistani film for the intellectual audience its just romance, wedding and more mediocre packages with gaudy dancing and item numbers to numb the Pakistani film audience into acceptation of low quantity subject matter. A very SAD state of affairs.
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