ISLAMABAD, Jun 2 (APP):National Amateur Short Film Festival 2021 has extended an unprecedented opportunity to the talented artistic youth of the country to explore and grasp innovative film-making ideas at the international forum of New York Film Academy Australia, said the qualifier of the Festival Hamza Bin Iftikhar on Thursday.
Hamza Bin Iftikhar, a student of Beaconhouse National University, stood third in the overall contest and got best director and screenplay writer award where the third position award was conferred by the then Prime Minister Imran Khan and the later by the DG Inter Services Public Relations Major General Babar Iftikhar.
His twelve-minute short film Nageenay qualified for the National Amateur Short Film Festival (NASFF) contest from out of a total of more than 1,100 entries received from 72 different educational institutions across Pakistan.
The Grand Finale of the event was held on June 26, 2021. The top 15 high achievers of NASFF-21, including Osama, were awarded 1-year Film-making Diploma from New York Film Academy (NYFA), Australia.
The short film is inspired by the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) playing a significant role in poverty alleviation within a society.
Nageenay depicts the story of four poor female artisans making jewelry at a jewelry shop who come to know about a contest launched by the government to promote SMEs producing recyclable products. They decide to participate in the competition about unique jewelry designs.
The ambitious skilled girls were seen contesting for their fate with their boss and after his refusal started working on making jewelry with abandoned clothes. However, by extreme hard work, team effort and struggle and the stroke of luck these girls succeed and they win the competition.
The story ended with motivating note saying, “Behind every successful woman there is a tribe of other successful women who have her back”.
The film’s script and direction was done by Hamza Bin Iftikhar, whereas Alishba Anjum was the producer and cinematography and editing was done by Bazil Kazmi and sound by Hassan Aitbar.
Hamza told APP that the NYFA diploma would help him get Hollywood experience and would also help explore the culture of Australia that was ideal for a film maker to explore new ideas.
“It is a best place for a film maker to grasp and work on innovative ideas,” he added.
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in collaboration with Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) had sought online registration for the National Amateur Short Film Festival (NASFF) under various themes including the colours of Pakistan, the Indus identity, Pakistan as a cultural melting pot, empowerment through SMEs, philanthropy in Pakistan and value addition in agri-products of Pakistan.
NASFF was created to tap the talent and creativity of Pakistani youth who choose Film and TV production and mass media communication as their professional careers. The festival was meant to proffer a chance to such talented youth to produce high quality short films projecting the real image of Pakistan.
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