Dawn Images

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon visited the Karachi Film School on Saturday where he said the Sindh government was looking to fund young filmmakers and had created a mechanism to finance films.

During a media talk, he also discussed steps the provincial government was taking to promote cinema and filmmaking.

He said the government had begun supporting the drama and film industries two years ago by financing projects. He said they’re encouraging filmmakers to make projects. “There’ll be revenue sharing, but the point is that this isn’t to make money, it’s to support filmmakers.”

Talking about the students who had screened their short films at the event, the minister said, “They’ve worked very hard, they’ve done a good job, I am here to announce, and make a commitment on behalf of the government: whatever scripts these guys create, good, positive scripts, the Sindh government will give them 100 per cent financing.”

He said the government had formed a board to receive and review scripts from young filmmakers, telling the assembled students to submit their work to the government soon.

Memon said the government had worked on a film of its own, Mera Layari, which shows “the reality of Lyari”. He said the film was made on “a very small budget” and as a response to another film set in the area meant to malign Pakistan — likely referring to Bollywood’s Dhurandhar.

Responding to a question from a journalist, the minister said the Pakistani film was ready and they were working out when to bring it to theatres.

The minister said the country’s enemies made concentrated efforts to push a narrative against Pakistan and the way to fight that was for Pakistanis to tell their own stories. “We must know the story of Pakistan, our country has suffered through many hardships and faced many challenges… These success stories of ours, they are huge successes.”

Memon said he would talk to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to potentially reduce tuition fees at the Karachi Film School by up to 50 per cent so that deserving students could have the chance to become filmmakers. He said the CM, President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari were all very supportive of positive initiatives such as these.

Speaking about the impact Pakistani films have had, Memon said Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy had won an Academy Award for her work, which was an achievement and a moment of pride for the whole country. He said he hoped students from the school also go on to win Academy Awards.

The minister said they want to have a positive outlook with the films they will support, building awareness about social problems but also “[showcasing] all the good in our country which we sometimes find difficult to display”.

Memon said past governments had failed to give media and filmmaking their due attention, which is why there was a shortage of cinemas and films to play in them. He said Pakistan had so much talent, “thousands of times better than India,” but Pakistan’s hostile neighbour had “maintained a monopoly” on major OTT platforms.

He said Pakistani productions were good, to the point they had amassed an audience amongst Indians, but the authorities there blocked these productions. He said the goal for Pakistan must be to make content so good that even the Indians have to run it out of commercial interest.

Everyone will have to work very hard for this, he said, vowing that the government would lend its full support to such measures.