Second Pak film festival kicks off in NY

NEW YORK: The stage is set for the second edition of Pakistan Film Festival which opens in New York on Saturday in the presence of a galaxy of Pakistani movie stars.

The Pakistan Mission to the United Nations, which has organized the two-day event at the prestigious Asia Society, is giving final touches to the arrangements fo the festival aimed at projecting Pakistan's soft image.

The films that will be screened during the festival include, Na Band Na Baraati, Punjab Nahi Jaongi, Cake, Verna, 7 Din Mohabat In, Parchi, and Lala Begum, generating a lot of interest here. “We are delighted with the response and hope that this effort at cultural diplomacy will help put our rising film industry on the international map,” Pakistan UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said. Stars participating in the festival have already started arriving in New York and are also looking forward its second edition.

Mikaal Zulfikar, who appears in two of the films being screened, said the Festival was an important way of showing “the other side of Pakistan , which the media abroad rarely reflects in its coverage.

In a video message from the airport, before leaving for New York, he said,”Super excited to be in the Big Apple and represent Pakistan”

Other actors participating in the festival include Mahira Khan, Mehwish Hayat, Asim Abbasi, Shayan Farooqi, Ali Kazmi, Ayesha Omar, Angeline Malik, and Aamina Sheikh. Among the directors Nadeem Baig and Mehreen Jabbar will be at the Festival. “Young film makers in Pakistan are producing an incredibly diverse and entertaining array of movies which are contributing to the cultural renaissance underway in the country," Ambassador Lodhi said in an interview with .

Ms Chinoy will participate in the festival''s special segment titled “Beyond the Oscars’ in which she will discuss her present and future work as well as challenges faced by Pakistan’s film industry.

Her animated film, 3 Bahadur was screened during the First Film Festival in New York in December 2016.