Ajit Rai/Jeddah

Pakistan's Zarar Kahan's film In Flames won the Best Film Award at the third Red Sea International Film Festival held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, beating films from countries around the world. This award, Golden User for Best Feature Film, is the biggest award of the festival and also includes a cash prize of one lakh US dollars.

In Flames is Zarar Kahan's first film. Wakhri  (One of a Kind) by Pakistan's Iram Parveen Bilal was also appreciated. The film is inspired by a true incident of the honour killing of a social media influencer Qandeel Baloch. Qandeel Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azim, was Pakistan's first social media celebrity. On the night of 15 July 2016, when she was sleeping at her parent’s residence in Multan, her two brothers - Aslam and Wasim -strangulated her to death. The brothers admitted to murdering their sister to ‘save the family’s honour'.

Both these films focused on women's freedom and struggle in the patriarchal Pakistani society. These films were the most discussed at the Festival and showed meaningful Pakistani cinema. However, last year, Sam Sadiq's Pakistani film 'Joyland' (2022) was awarded at the 75th Cannes Film Festival; it was also Pakistan's official entry for the Oscar Awards. However, under pressure from religious fundamentalist groups, this film was banned in many provinces of Pakistan. The film depicted the love story of a married man and a transgender. The theme of the film was the patriarchal society.

The Film Makers and artists of In Flames after receiving the award

This time, Zarar Kahan's film In Flames is the official entry from Pakistan in the 96th Oscar Awards. This year, the film had its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival at the Director's Fortnight. Later this film got great fame at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Zarar Kahan's film In Flames is the story of Mariam (Ramesh Naval) and her widowed mother Fariha (Bakhtawar Mazhar), who live in a small flat in a Karachi slum. Mariam has a boyfriend, Asad (Umar Javed) who is studying medicine with her. One day, while returning from the beach on a motorcycle, they meet with an accident in which Asad dies. Mariam somehow reaches home. She starts having nightmares.

Her flat in which Mariam lives with her mother Fariha and younger brother belongs to her maternal grandfather. He was an honest police officer who died leaving some debts and the flat to his children. One of Maryam's uncles conspires to take over the flat and persuades her mother to sign the papers. The Mother and daughter realize it when they receive a notice for vacating the flat. In Pakistan and many other Muslim countries, the laws give women rights to ancestral property. Even if a case is registered, the matter drags on for years in the court. The mother does not have money to fight the case and Fariha is somehow continuing to fight. She has no choice but to fight the case by luring the lawyer with her body and looks.

The Poster of Wakhri

In one scene, Fariha boldly tells the conspirator that she will not vacate the flat till she dies and that she has hired a lawyer and will fight the case. On the other hand, one day, at the request of Mariam, the auto driver takes her to the same cottage on the seashore where she had gone with her late lover. The auto driver changes her mind. He thinks Mariam is helpless and tries to rape her. Just then his mother Farha reaches there looking for him. While saving Mariam, the auto driver is killed. Mary has no choice but to set fire to that hut. That hut is burning and both the women are returning with a sigh of relief.

In Iram Parveen Bilal's film Vakhri, a school teacher Noor Malik (Faryal Mahmood) issues an appeal on social media by changing her name to Vakhri  to open a school for girls of her community in Lahore and her video goes viral. He starts receiving donations in large quantities. Vakhri’ss husband died eight years ago. She has a 10-year-old son for whose upbringing she is fighting with her in-laws. His only intimate friend is Guchi (Gulshan Majid), a transgender who runs an underground disco in Lahore.

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Wakhri  and Gucci started making provocative videos at the disco and uploading them on social media. His fame sparks debate in Pakistan and demonstrations take place in support and against him. A television reality show host suddenly reveals Vakhri’s  true identity. Vakhri has to leave the show midway and run away. The crowd follows them. In this chaos, someone opens fire onVakhri. The film however ends at a happy note.

The author is a well-known flm critic