Feature Film

Rafina
pic

Story: Malia Scotch Marmo, Sabiha Sumar and Samhita Arni
Directed by: Sabiha Sumar
Starring: Amna Ilyas, Yasir Aqueel, Beo Raana Zafar, Atta Yaqub

Producer: Sachithanandam Sathananthan, Sarah Radclyffe
Co-production: Vidhi Films (Pakistan) in association with ZDF / ARTE (Europe)
Duration: 96 minutes
2011

picThe story of a young woman trying to find her place in the fashion and beauty industry in Karachi. Rafina's work in the up-market salon and her life in a lower middle class colony come together to form a revealing microcosm of modern Pakistani society. Going beyond the clichéd settings of an Islamised Pakistan, the film enters the rarely seen world of Muslim high society.

Status: completed

 


Khamosh Pani / Silent Waters

Story and film: Sabiha Sumar 

Starring: Kirron Kher, Aamir Malik

Co-producers: Sachithanandam Sathananthan, Philippe Avril, Helge Albers, Claudia Tronnier

Co-production: Vidhi Films (Pakistan), Unlimited (France), Flying Moon Filmproduktion (Germany) in association with ZDF / Das kleine Fernsehspiel (Germany), ARTE (Europe)

Duration: 99 minutes

2003

The film is based on actual events that took place when British India was partitioned in 1947. It was a time of intense violence. In pre-Partition Punjab, Muslims and Sikhs had lived side by side, but during the Partition men from both sides of the religious divide slaughtered each other, looted property, and abducted women. The film is about the story of one such Sikh woman, Veero.

The story starts in 1979, in a Pakistan under President Zia-ul-Haq’s martial law, when the country embarked on its journey to Islamization. It traces the lives of Veero, her gentle, dreamy-eyed son Saleem and his young but courageous girlfriend, Zubeida. In doing so, it explores the silencing that comes with religious and political fundamentalism and seeks hope for the spirit of enquiry. As Zubeida says so memorably, “Saleem, I also pray but that does not mean I do not think.”


>"Rare...Wrenching...Gripping. Traces the roots of the radical Islamicist movement."
Ken Fox TV Guide

 

>"Substantial, emotionally detailed... packs a wallop."
New York Times

 

>"A timely look at the rise of extremism, deeply political but intensely personal."
Georgia Straight, Vancouver

 

>"A moving portrait of societal and religious discord that, despite its being set a quarter century ago, has resonance today. The forcefulness of its message makes it a rewarding cinematic experience."
Hollywood Reporter

 

>"Technically superior, intricately detailed, beautifully told human drama"
Mid Day Bombay

 

>".beautiful film.while fundamentalism, intolerance and terror are raging around the world, Sabiha Sumar's film shines like a glimmer of hope"
APD Presse Ocean

winner of the Golden Leopard at
the Locarno Filmfestival 2003


Director Sabiha Sumar receives the Golden Leopard


 

Copyright ©2011 Vidhi Films Pvt. Ltd.