Piano

A short film about the neglected piano at my house. Screened at the 3rd Karachi International Film Festival in 2004.

Parween Rehman: Lane by Lane

An article by Zofeen T. Ebrahim about the late Parween Rehman.

Parween RehmanPerween Rehman is most at ease sitting with a group of people, especially if they are from a katchi abadi (low-income settlement) and can exchange ideas with her. A qualified architect, she heads the well known Orangi Pilot Project- Research and Training Institute (OPP-RTI) in Karachi. There are piles of papers waiting for her and scores of meetings with Government Officials and their partners. But poor people are more important. And herein lies the success of the project, for people are “their own best resource”. Rehman radiates warmth. She smiles easily and frequently bursts into a chortle. You marvel as you listen to her with rapt attention, trying to figure out why she is the way she is. “I am an optimist. The maximum I can remain depressed for is ten minutes,” she tells you later when you interview her in a spacious, well-ventilated meeting room in OPP’s office, in Orangi.

More here.

Quilted Art

A talk by Tahereh Sheerazie about the quilting workshops she conducted around Pakistan last year. Tahereh speaks on the process of allowing the women to do their own thing, never intervening, except for the demands that it be their own, and ensure quality in the finish, how this exercise in self expression was for them a deep dive into what they and their colleagues were about, a communal bonding and a transformational experience in gaining self confidence.

Cycling and the City

Join the International Online Competition for Bicycle Short Films. Deadline is January 18, 2013!

Celebrating the advance of the worldwide cycling movement, the VELOBerlin Film Award is an online bike film competition created to find the best short films that relate to the theme of “Cycling and the City”.

More here.