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Original ‘Serious Cinema’ Acclaimed at Karachi Film Festival

The audience’s response towards both the documentaries was very positive… a gesture that suggest that our audience is certainly maturing for different genres of film other than entertainment. The first in the row happened to be Across the LoC: Indian Administered Kashmir, directed by young Munizae Jahangir and pertaining to the eye opening reality of [...]

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Tiny Radio Station Keeps Pakistan Earthquake Victims Company

Emanating from a city that was mostly destroyed by October’s magnitude 7.6 earthquake, which killed an estimated 87,000 people and left 3.2 million homeless, Radio Muzaffarabad has provided victims with a vital link to the outside world and informed them of the availability of critical services. ”It’s 5 p.m., and this is Radio Muzaffarabad,” began [...]

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Karachi Film Festival Starts with Films from 30 Countries

The festival runs until December 11 and will feature 150 films from 30 countries, including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Iran, Canada, the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Poland, Italy, Chile and Brazil. Pooja Bhatt and Irfan Khan are among the actors, actresses, producers and directors who will take part, Zaidi said. The festival will see [...]

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Cinema Reborns as Earthquake Relief Centre

The Melody Cinema had sat fallow for two years, ever since a mob of religious radicals set it on fire and reduced it to nothing more than a charred, trash-filled shell. Today, it has been reborn as the Melody Relief and Rehabilitation Center, and the occupants of its 53 beds are women with broken backs. [...]

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New Purpose-Built Karachi Arts Council Theatre Opens

Instead of any ribbon-cutting ceremony, the purpose-built theatre was declared open with the staging of veteran actor-director Kamal Ahmed Rizvi’s brilliant play “Aadhi Baat.” After this treat, the newly furnished theatre house will soon offer Anjum Niaz’s play “Paisa, Paisa, Paisa.” Designed by renowned architect and current president of Institute of Architect Pakistan, Aqeel Bilgrami, [...]

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Pakistani Woman Named Glamour’s Woman of the Year

Mukhtaran Bibi, a Pakistani rape victim, is to receive a “Woman Of the Year” award today from the US magazine Glamour. The 31-year-old Punjabi villager will also receive $20,000 (£11,350) at a ceremony in New York’s Lincoln Centre alongside 11 other nominees including Catherine Zeta-Jones. “This is a story that I think is going to [...]

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A Pakistani-American Love Story Keeping Alive

Most couples only have to convince their in-laws and friends their love is true. The Ahmads have to prove their commitment to the U.S. government. These records and more, soon to be mailed to a Des Moines immigration office, are an attempt to prove Malik Ahmad, 32, a Pakistani citizen, and Amy, 26, a Washburn [...]

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New Pakistani Satellite Urdu TV Channel Launched

TV One has commenced broadcasting on AsiaSat 3S, offering a mix of programming content including news and current affairs, entertainment, drama and music. “By broadcasting on Asia’s most popular satellite platform and in free to air format, we are able to rapidly grow our television viewership across our country and beyond.” Airwaves Media is also [...]

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Remembering Karachi’s Informal Libraries and Reading Habits

Karachi was a much smaller city then, but its people had rich reading habits. Many of them were content with newspapers, but a lot of them would go to scores of quality bookshops to satiate their thirst for knowledge and imagination. These area libraries would normally open in the afternoon and serve their clientele till [...]

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French-Pakistani Documentaries on Historical Sufi Shrines

French filmmaker is collaborating with a Pakistani director to produce a series of documentaries exploring the architectural, artistic and spiritual importance of Pakistan’s shrines. The duo previously shot an internationally acclaimed 90-minute feature exploring the state of classical dance in Pakistan entitled Laatoo. Frenchwoman Alix Phillippon and Pakistani Faizan Pirzada have now commenced work on [...]

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