KARACHI: In an effort to showcase young talent and independent filmmakers, Nueplex Film Festival was launched at Nueplex Cinemas in Karachi on Friday.
The three-day film festival will showcase 18 films from up-and-coming filmmakers, which organizers say hopes to “create cinematic magic despite limited experience and resources.”
Nine films were screened on the first day of the festival — Discarded, Circus, Heart Arrest, Barzakh, Shikray Ka Gudda, Reverie, Ticket to Paradise, Haibat and Sentinal Jet. With nine more films to be released today.
Sharmeen Ali, director of Reverie – a surreal contemporary film that deals with grief – sees the festival as a great opportunity to meet talented filmmakers and directors of her age.
“I’m happy to be a part of [the festival]. That they thought our film was really good and that it was nominated and shortlisted, it’s an honor, it’s a premiere and it’s an amazing experience.” , so far,” Sharmeen told Geo.tv when asked about her expectations from the festival.
On the occasion of her film being felicitated by industry leaders like writer Bee Gul, actor Humayun Saeed, director Siraj ul Haq, writer Zanjabeel Asim Shah and director Nadeem Baig, Sharmeen said it was an honor to know that “such icons” they will watch her movie.
Talking about the films screened on the first day, director Siraj ul Haq noted that they were shown a wide genre of films. However, the biggest highlight of the day for him was watching sci-fi or sci-fi films by Pakistani directors.
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“The biggest thing I saw was the sci-fi genre because it’s mostly made in the Western world. They showed two sci-fi movies and they were very different. This is a new development among our filmmakers that we are going all over the world and doing something in this genre and some of our stories can go there because it has a very big market,” said Haq.
Taha Chaudhry, who portrayed the antagonist in the sci-fi film Sentinel Jet, pointed out the lack of resources when it comes to making the film and the structure of shooting the genre, which is not seen in Pakistan.
“For me as an actor, there were limitations when we had to go for makeup that wasn’t that authentic. I mean, when we saw it on the big screen, it looked a little weird at times. But with the resources they had, the directing team and everyone else, they did a good job with the green screen and all the explosions and everything,” Taha told Geo.tv. He added that he chose the film because of the role he was getting and was a fan of neo-noir films and futurism.
Perhaps the biggest part of a movie is the story it’s trying to portray and how it’s written. And the festival management has prepared a prize for the best screenplay.
Bee Gul, who is also a member of the jury, when asked about writing the scripts for the films presented on the first day, remarked that it was the “weakest part”.
“There are concepts out there that they don’t know how to portray in screenplays. The visuals are technically fine, not bad but still weak with the scripts,” Gul said about the films showcased on the first day.
Nine more films of the festival will be screened today and the awards ceremony will take place on the third day.
In addition to the award for Best Screenplay, the jury will select Best Director, Best Film, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Design and Best Production Design.
