Documentary filmmaker Shehzad Hameed has made a conscious effort of creating a positive image of Pakistan abroad, by throwing light on the lives of individuals who are making a difference in society, and highlighting issues that many refrain from talking about.
Documentary filmmaker Shehzad Hameed has made a conscious effort of creating a positive image of Pakistan abroad, by throwing light on the lives of individuals who are making a difference in society, and highlighting issues that many refrain from talking about. His documentaries Pakistan Four and Flight of the Falcons have received international acclaim and are famous for offering a view different from the stereotypical image of the country. It seems appreciation isn’t coming to a stall any time soon for the director as one of his latest ventures has also won an award in Singapore.
The documentary titled, Kasur’s Lost Children, has been awarded the Feature Story of the Year Award at the Mediacorp News Awards, held recently in Singapore. The 48-minute documentary uncovers the country’s biggest child sexual abuse scandal in history and follows the journey of one activist who pledges to bring justice to the kids of Kasur. In an earlier interview with Instep, Hameed stated the reason why changing perceptions about Pakistan has always been his main agenda. “I think we all need to better understand Pakistan, which I believe is one of most misunderstood places in the world. An accurate definition would be that it is a land of contradictions that produces a courageous girl such as Malala and at the same time, produced a coward who attacked her. Western media perceptions of the country have often been defined by a very narrow representation of mostly news articles. I would say people should visit Pakistan and that is when real change would occur.”
