Do you all remember Omar Gilani’s version of sci-fi Pakistan? Someone else’s art just topped that vision of a futuristic Pakistan.
The best part is that its a short movie and not just a series of pictures.
Shehr-e-Tabassum, Pakistan’s First Futuristic Film
The short film, titled ‘Shehr-e-Tabassum’ has even put out a teaser.
You can watch the first Shehr-e-Tabassum trailer here:
The animation is certainly next level. It looks very cyberpunk. You can see how its inspired by other sci-fi classics such as Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Looper, Tron, etc.
Echoes of George Orwell’s 1984
The teaser literally looks like something that jumped out of the pages of George Orwell’s 1984. The film is definitely inspired by cyberpunk stories and tales of a dystopian future.
Dystopian era literature and art tend to focus on how governments encroach on our civil liberties.
The short film also addresses this issue. It shows us how, in the struggle to overcome social issues like terrorism and inequality, civil liberties often become the casualties of war.
What is the cost of being the happiest nation in the world? Complete abjuration of emotional expression?
“Shehr e Tabassum is the first of its kind animated Urdu short film set in a dystopian future… It is the year 2071. There have been no reported instances of terrorism or violent crime in over 3 decades in Pakistan. The cost – the systematic subjugation of human emotion.”
Pakistan has animated films but this will be the first film in the cyberpunk-dystopian future genre. Shehr-e-Tabassum is the brainchild of Ayesha Iftikhar, with Arafat Mazhar handling direction.
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