{"id":440569,"date":"2025-05-27T16:21:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/?p=440569"},"modified":"2025-05-27T16:21:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:21:19","slug":"pakistani-filmmakers-take-the-spotlight-as-crescent-collective-returns-to-cannes-with-powerhouse-new-wave-pakistan-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/pakistani-filmmakers-take-the-spotlight-as-crescent-collective-returns-to-cannes-with-powerhouse-new-wave-pakistan-panel\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistani Filmmakers Take the Spotlight as Crescent Collective Returns to Cannes With Powerhouse ‘New Wave Pakistan’ Panel"},"content":{"rendered":"

One year after Variety called its Cannes debut \u201ca bold new hub at the Croisette,\u201d the Pakistan Crescent Collective returned to the Croisette louder, prouder, and armed with a slate of globally resonant filmmakers making international headlines.<\/p>\n

At the American Pavilion, the Collective presented \u201cNew Wave Pakistan: Telling Global Stories, Rooted at Home\u201d, an industry conversation celebrating the country\u2019s cinematic resurgence\u2014from art-house breakouts to real-life thrillers.<\/p>\n\t\t

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Panel moderator, acclaimed filmmaker and Crescent Collective co-founder Mohammed Ali (Mo) Naqvi, opened the discussion with:<\/p>\n

For so long, the only stories we were allowed to tell were filtered through a Western lens: terrorism, trauma, poverty. We\u2019re finally claiming the freedom to tell our own stories\u2014joyful ones, horrifying ones, romantic ones\u2014on our own terms.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Touching upon his latest production, Hanging By A Wire<\/em><\/a>, Mo added, \u201cThis film is a complete departure for me\u2014it\u2019s a full-on action-thriller made in a mainstream cinematic style. And for that reason, I actually see it as a deliberate act of subversion. We\u2019re not used to seeing stories from Pakistan told this way\u2014big, thrilling, made for a global audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Filmmaking as an act of defiance was further explored by Queen of My Dreams<\/em> Writer-Director Fawzia Mirza who spoke about the vulnerability of telling deeply personal stories: \u201cFor years, I made films without expecting applause. I\u2019ve always known that by telling these stories of radical self-love, I was putting myself further into the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aleem Bukhari (Director) & Irfan Noor King (Producer & Actor), filmmakers of Karmash<\/em>, the first-ever Pakistani short selected for this year\u2019s Cannes Directors\u2019 Fortnight, elaborated on their process: \u201cYou make a film for yourself, or for a specific audience, it\u2019s a very personal thing. You don\u2019t make it with a festival like Cannes in mind and that\u2019s not the right way to create. You just do your best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hammad Khan, London-based filmmaker of Slackistan<\/em>, discussed pushing boundaries with his satirical, surrealist sophomore film Anima State: \u201cMainly it was Fantasia in Canada who embraced it. Back then, there was real pushback against anything outside the box. That\u2019s why now I say\u2014make the film for yourself. That\u2019s how you break boundaries\u2014by not asking for permission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writer-director of Cannes 2022 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and Queer Palm winner Joyland, Saim Sadiq participated on the panel following the announcement of receiving the Baumi Script Development Award for his upcoming feature Little Men, selected by Oscar-winner Edward Berger. The program was sponsored by EBM \u2013 English Biscuit Manufacturers (Pvt) Ltd., a pioneering Pakistani brand that has long championed the importance of storytelling, cultural representation, and local innovation.<\/p>\n\t\t

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Shahzain Munir, Executive Director, EBM \u2013 English Biscuit Manufacturers (Pvt) Ltd., the event\u2019s presenting sponsor, added: \u201cWe are proud to support the Crescent Collective\u2019s mission to spotlight Pakistan\u2019s creative talent at Cannes. At EBM, we believe in championing local stories that inspire pride and showcase the innovation and spirit of Pakistan on the global stage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One year after Variety called its Cannes debut \u201ca bold new hub at the Croisette,\u201d the Pakistan Crescent Collective returned to the Croisette louder, prouder, and armed with a slate of globally resonant filmmakers making international headlines. At the American Pavilion, the Collective presented \u201cNew Wave Pakistan: Telling Global Stories, Rooted at Home\u201d, an industry conversation celebrating the country\u2019s cinematic […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":440572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2199,2540],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-440569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-international"},"wps_subtitle":"","img_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pakistan-filmmakers-364x205.jpg",364,205,true],"medium":["https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pakistan-filmmakers.jpg",1000,560,false],"full":["https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/pakistan-filmmakers.jpg",1000,560,false]},"author_name":"Sher Alam","categories_name":["Featured","International"],"title_text":"Pakistani Filmmakers Take the Spotlight as Crescent Collective Returns to Cannes With Powerhouse \u2018New Wave Pakistan\u2019 Panel","related_stories":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts?filter&per_page=4&categories=2199,2540&exclude=440569","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440569"},{"taxonomy":"adace-sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/adace-sponsor?post=440569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}