Karachi Kamera in San Francisco

A newly formed group called “Buniyad” (foundation) along with the KaraFilm Society put together “Karachi Kamera,” a viewing of “Short Films from Pakistan” in San Francisco on Friday, June 25, 2004 at the JCCSF on California Street.

Included in this program was an interesting beginning which asked a number of (non-South Asian “Desi”) people on the street in this area, a puzzling question, “What is Karachi?” This was followed by Adnan Malik’s “Bijli” (electricity), Farjad Nabi’s “Nusrat has Left the Building”, Sharmeen Obaid’s “On a Razor’s Edge”, Mehreen Jabbar’s “Beauty Parlor”, Farjad Nabi’s “Cricket Lives in Lahore,” and last but not least, a subset of Matteela’s “Dus Gungee Filmain” (10 Silent Films). Ranging from 5 to 25 minutes in length, these short films provided us some exposure to Pakistan’s little heard from alternate cinema (except for “On a Razor’s Edge that has already been aired on the PBS Documentary Program “Frontline”).

Of the 300 or so people that attended this show, many were not South Asians. This certainly did provide them with the opportunity to view a very different picture of Pakistan. Some of the storylines painted life in Pakistan from a very liberal viewpoint, one that its own Diaspora may not (ever?) be ready for.

Beginning with the question “What is Karachi?” some of the replies heard were 1) “Karachi is something you smoke.” 2) “It’s a cheese.” 3) “Some kind of Martial Arts.” 4) “Some sort of Yoga.” 5) “An Italian form of Karaoke.” 6) “A restaurant on Market Street.” The replies were outright confused or just seemed hilarious to the viewers. To many of us who are from this huge port city of over 14 million people, the economic hub and largest city of Pakistan, this ignorance about our city of origin points to our own failings.

The next film Adnan Malik’s “Bijli” (Electicity) takes us to New York where we meet Fayaaz, a man who is unsure about his orientation. Fayaaz is a Pakistani immigrant (since 1989) who fries parathas, sows women’s clothing and fulfills some of his religious duties privately. We learn about the early death of his parents and his feeling of great loss for his mother. He also considers himself a woman trapped in a man’s body. So after sundown he turns into his other showbiz personality, that of Fayaaz Bijli, a very colorful Drag Queen. Bijli is shown as a professional dancer who performs on stage to the beat of Punjabi music. The film humanizes Fayaaz for all. His struggle within himself, his religion and the environment in Manhattan makes for some very interesting viewing. (This film gets the maximum 4 stars allowed here).

Farjad Nabi’s “Nusrat has left the Building,” shown next tried to document the life and legacy of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the only music superstar from Pakistan who was successfully able to take his art to the western world. The art of qawwali has made Nusrat’s home town of Faisalabad a point of interest for us. Nusrat died just before he was 50 years of age in the year 1997, a huge tragedy for Pakistan, which lost its only international ambassador of music.

There is a great deal of symbolism used in this film. The rock etching on a wall of Nusrat’s image by a young man who wishes to follow in his footsteps is interesting. Somewhat moving is the background of ultra narrow streets (gullis), much poverty, colorful flowers and the very traditional environment that surprisingly nurtured Nusrat. His slow transformation into an international music icon, teaming with Rock Musicians later in his short life, is hurriedly glanced over. His songs remained the high point of this movie. Otherwise it was somewhat difficult to follow. Maybe, and just maybe, this film was attempting to re-establish Faisalabad’s ownership of him after his death? (2.1/2 Stars for this effort).

“On a Razor’s Edge” is a documentary on Pakistan by Sharmeen Obaid who graduated from and left Stanford not too long ago. Sharmeen is a PBS Frontline/World correspondent whom we hope to hear a lot in the future. This is a decent documentary and Sharmeen Obaid is a truly worthy journalist, but this film had two or three things going against it. 1) Many of us had already seen it. 2) I’m not sure that it really belonged in this Karachi Camera lineup. And the third is a bias on the part of this reviewer. Any filmmaker in Pakistan who has access to and interviews ISI’s former boss Lt. General (Ret.) Hamid Gul and Army Chief (Ret.) General Aslam Beg cannot be struggling too hard in his or her profession. The Peace Train from India segment and the finale, the changing of the guards at the India-Pakistan border, was well done. Otherwise this was current events material from the viewpoint of the Establishment. (2 Stars for this one)

Next “Beauty Parlor” by Mehreen Jabbar is an intimate 18-minute journey into suppressed and (over) expressed female desires along with a touching slice into a dream of a handicapped member of the “Heejrah” (Transvestite) community. Bordering on the neurotic and the erotic, this film certainly would not pass the many verbal censorship barriers usually present in Pakistani cinema. I have not witnessed such an approach in film from the feminine Pakistani perspective before, so the “shock value” is very much present here. This short film is for mature audiences. This is not a family movie so leave the kids at home. What you get here is blatant honesty. Words and symbols are used with guided precision. There is a great deal going on in this “Beauty Parlor” beyond the struggle to just look good. In conversations two friends long for intimacies of a different kind. Jealousy plays a number of roles. A bride longs for someone else while getting ready for her wedding to another. A “kept woman” struggles to define her existence via her power over the life of her keeper (and his family).Writer Azra Babar has done a great job here. But it is the touching finale of a Heejrah/Transvestite with a bad leg that dreams of dancing on both feet that elevates this movie to a full 4 stars in my book.

“Cricket in Lahore” by Farjad Nabi is an interesting film. The kid getting mad at his batting shortcomings is a good start but it is Lahore’s love of the game and the passion generated within each and every individual involved in it that is inspiring. What passes for a ball is well documented in this movie, e.g. cork ball dipped in water, the plastic egg, taped ball etc. But the part that one may find most interesting is location and condition of the pitch on which this game is played. What passes for a “Club” where cricket great Wasim Akram got his start, is a sight to see. Potholes filled with water and all. The Mozang Double Wicket Tournament that goes on at night within the bounds of vehicle traffic sure took the cake. Otherwise due to the trouble encountered during showing this movie and for reminding us (now) older guys who had many unfulfilled dreams of our own within the parameters of this game, this film gets 2 ½ Stars.

Last but not least a sub-section of Matteela’s “Dus Goongi Filmain” (Ten Silent Films) actually yielded just three of them. The first one “Keyhole” (by Abuzar Khan) proved to be a naughty and entertaining affair. The second “Voice Vendor” (By Sikandar Mufti) was well orchestrated (literally) and “Virtual Lives” (by Mazhar Zaidi) stressed alienation and the world of make believe we create while surfing the net (with a somewhat Pakistani twist). I was waiting for “Out of Sync” by Hasan Zaidi but I guess that we had run out of time. But certainly 3 Stars go to this segment.

I believe this just about covers it for Karachi Kamera. This was an all out worthy effort that Buniyad, the KaraFilm Society and sponsor GreenSoap Design can easily be proud of. A word of thanks is also in order for the JCCSF (Jewish Community Center of San Francisco) for the use of their beautiful facility for this Pakistani effort. And as a final observation, Karachi Kamera ( http://www.karachikamera.com/ ) proved to us via film that that Liberal Pakistan may be a small and struggling life form, but it is still thankfully far from extinct.