At Pakistan’s Hum TV Awards in Dubai on April 10, 39-year-old Faraz Waqar got a chance to shine. The Karachi-born filmmaker, who works as a marketing executive in Abu Dhabi, won Best Short Film/Video for his film 9:11 am, which was made entirely in the capital. The aspiring director tells The National about his next project and his hopes for Pakistan’s struggling movie industry.
What does this victory mean to you?
Winning the award was beyond my imagination. I had seen the work of the other nominees, which was excellent. After my acceptance speech, I was literally shivering in my chair from the excitement, and called my family and the cast and crew. None of us had expected such recognition.
How did you come to be a part of the competition?
I heard about the competition on Hum TV in Dubai and was excited when I realised they were looking for new directors. I submitted three films. The one that got selected as one of the six final nominees was my graduation thesis film 9:11 am (2012). It was made entirely in Abu Dhabi – all cast and crew are residents but from various parts of the world.
What is 9:11 am about?
9:11 am is set in a high school in the Gulf, where a shooting breaks out. Since the media reports on such incidents happening in the United States, the authorities at the high school assume it’s the American students at the university who are ‘to blame’ for this shooting. Students and authorities start discriminating against American students on the campus. So it was the reverse of the actual 9/11 situation, where everyone of Middle Eastern and Muslim origin started being looked at with suspicion after the incident happened.
Original article by Ujala Ali Khan
Continue reading at The National:
Abu Dhabi-based Faraz Waqar on winning Hum TV Short Film/Video award
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