The journey of director Jawad Sharif and producer Zeejah Fazli’s Indus Blues is far from over. It covers the stories of indigenous artists, folk music and instruments, and narratives of beautiful artists that often go neglected. The documentary substantially covered the forgotten music/artists and has managed to make a place for itself across Pakistan and beyond.
After being screened at Lahore Music Meet 2020, the documentary is being screened at T2F in Karachi on February 27 (today) from 7 pm to 9 pm with an entry price of Rs 200. It is a bargain to be able to watch this documentary for Rs 200. It was also screened at Creative Karachi Festival, dedicated to the memory of the late Sabeen Mahmud, the social activist who ran T2F before she was murdered.
Indus Blues, the 76-minute long documentary with the tagline, ‘The Forgotten Music of Pakistan’, is produced by the Foundation of Arts, Culture and Education (FACE), in association with Bipolar Films.
It has traveled the world with an Italian premiere at the Festival del Film Etnomusicale (2019), a German premiere at the prestigious DokuArts – Internationales Festival fur Filme zur Kunst in Berlin (2019), as well as several local screenings including Creative Karachi Festival (2019), Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) in Islamabad, among others. Indus Blues also won at the South Asian Film Festival in Montreal, picking up Director’s Choice Award.
As DokuArts noted, Indus Blues “tells us about the endangered world of traditional music in Pakistan, a country that not only deals with political and economic problems but also faces a severe identity crisis… Jawad Sharif’s breathtaking images of Pakistan’s landscapes become the arena for the struggle for survival of an ancient and valuable culture that has been forced out of the urban centers.”
Having seen the documentary that also features names such as Arieb Azhar from the contemporary scene, it will be a treat for Karachiwalas and music lovers to experience the documentary and learn about the music such as Alghoza player, stunning performances from Arieb Azhar and Mai Dhai, respectively, and culture that resides within inner Pakistan beyond the major metropolises.
