This new documentary takes a fresh look at the work of Zia Mohyeddin and Faiz
A new documentary Some Lover to Some Beloved draws an unexpected parallel between the work of two of Pakistan’s literary giants — poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz and actor/writer/director Zia Mohyeddin.
"What is Zia Mohyeddin's story? What is Faiz Ahmed Faiz's story? How do they come together in work, in performance, in poetry, that's what you're going to find out...," says director Umar Riaz in an introductory video to the film.
The documentary, titled after Faiz’s poem of the same name, is special in that it takes root from rare footage of Mohyeddin’s annual readings on New Year’s eve in Lahore; what makes it doubly special is that the footage happens to be of an extraordinary performance.
"It happened completely by chance,” Umar tells Images. While he was in Lahore for the shoot of a film he was making for his Master's degree at Tisch School of Art at NYU, Umar decided to also film the recital while he was in town.
This was December 31, 2010 — "a very special year because it was the year of Faiz's 100th birthday." For the first time, Mohyeddin dedicated his show to the work of one author. In that reading, he correlated Faiz's poetry and prose together.