First All-Pakistani Production Makes History At Berlin Film Fest

The Pakistani film maker Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’ Lalli had its world premiere on Thursday at the 76th Berlinale

The film is the first fully Pakistani feature to debut at the festival, showcasing local talent in acting, production, and storytelling, screened in the Berlinale’s Panorama section

The premiere at 3:30pm Berlin time (7:30pm PKT) twisted into a lively celebration of Pakistan’s independent film community. Actors, writers, producers, assistant directors, and crew members, including executive producer Tooba Siddiqui, walked the red carpet together, capturing the moment on social media as a collective achievement.

The story is about of Sajawal (Channan Hanif) and his new bride Zeba (Mamya Shajaffar) in the Punjabi-language black comedy.

The locals in their working-class part of the city of Sahiwal mutter that Zeba is living under a curse after her previous suitors died in mysterious circumstances.

Lali’s premiere at Berlin has echoes of the trajectory of “Joyland” by Saim Sadiq, which became the first ever Pakistani entry in competition at the Cannes film festival in 2022.

Is Khoosat hopeful that such films can raise the profile of Pakistani cinema?

He said that the industry in Pakistan has been struggling, suffering a “semi-gradual kind of demise” over the past 20 years or so.

“Before that, we had a big cinema scene… which would produce, you know, more than 100 films a year. ”

But Khoosat said Pakistani cinema has struggled to rise of other media and did not “cater to a newer audience”.

Could films like “Lali” bring Pakistani cinema new recognition?

“This opportunity of visibility on such platforms — I just wish that, you know, it would translate into a more thriving” domestic film industry, Khoosat said.

“There’s definitely a whole new generation of filmmakers, and they need to be facilitated to produce more work.”

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