Afrah Jamal

First Published in Economic Affairs - Islamabad (March 2014) Like Rick’s from Casablanca, people tend to gravitate towards the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF). To rendezvous with authors, (global & regional), journalists (foreign and local), diplomats, filmmakers, celebrities, publishing giants, analysts & social media pundits. To hail divergent views and forge lifelong connections while sprinting from session to session; at author signings by makeshift book stalls, in the midst of earnest discussions, during lively Q/A’s and at coffee stands. KLF, which became a part of Karachi’s social scene in 2010, is a portal to a realm where discourse is welcome and diversity is celebrated. Where elitism gets shunned, and cultural bonds are reinforced. Those who ventured out might have come upon beloved idols sans entourage mingling with the common folk, calmly standing by a pillar if they couldn’t find a seat; Zeb (other half of Haniya) or Tina Sani humming to the beat of so...

Published in Economic Affairs / Nov 2013 One day an actress, a filmmaker, a director and a distributor gathered to talk shop over tea. Even though a regional film had won at the NY City International film festival, and another cleaned up the local box-office a few years ago, the obituary for the Pakistani cinema was delivered a while ago. It was to remain uncontested for a long time. Film buffs were left wondering why not a single award winning film (Seedlings) or documentary ( Saving Face) had been screened in the gleaming new cinemas; or where that little advertised indie horror flick disappeared to, moments after its debut. And do local movies even stand a chance against the distributor’s bottom line, or space unfairly reserved for the Indian blockbuster for that matter. Mandviwalla opened the gateway to neighbouring cinema and fielded objections of an uneven playing field with a shrug - good Pakistani movies need not fear any Indian invasion in his view. A few months pass. T...