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In another triumph for Pakistani filmmakers on the international stage, Mahnoor Batool and Shahnawaz Ahmed Khan’s The Emergency Exit won the Spirit of Doc Lab award at the Kathmandu Doc Lab on Thursday.

The duo’s project was the only one selected from Pakistan and took home one of four prizes at the event, with the other three going to Indian films. Other titles in the running were from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

The Emergency Exit is based on the experiences of people living in Parachinar, a war-weary city in Pakistan’s northwest close to the border with Afghanistan. Both filmmakers are Parachinar natives, so the subject matter is deeply personal to them.

A press release from the two directors said the film “explores how ordinary people continue living amid uncertainty, closely observing daily life, relationships, routines, and the quiet resilience of communities trying to hold onto hope while navigating disrupted realities”.

In an Instagram post on the film, Baloch described the documentary as one she made “with a heavy heart and open eyes”. She dedicated it to “those who have suffered, waited for peace, and endured the shadows of war”.

The teaser for the film is the best clue to its haunting ethos, featuring a child around 10 to 12 years old being asked why he isn’t afraid of war.

With the expression of a man who had resigned himself to fate, this child answered, “[If] a missile will come, it will come. And if it hits this house, then what? At most, we will die.”

The Kathmandu Doc Lab brought together a diverse group of young filmmakers from South Asia for mentorship and workshops from industry professionals. Mentors at the festival included Pakistan’s Anam Abbas — of In Flames fame — Bhutan’s Arun Bhattarai and India’s Sarvnik Kaur.