For Locals By Locals: DAP’s “Chalta Phirta Doc Fest” To Screen Pakistani Documentary Films Rooted In The Country’s Culture

The word “culture” may suggest all that is aesthetically pleasing, but if further probed into, comes forward as a phenomenon incorporating both the good and the bad, the mild and the rigid, the boasted about, and the tabooed. With exactly this purpose of encompassing all that is rooted in the culture of Pakistan, the Documentary Association of Pakistan is all set to kick-start its second series of documentary films under the title of “Chalta Phirta Doc Fest”. The very term “Chalta Phirta” carries in itself the objective of the festival, which not only aims at taking its informative yet creative content all over the country but also wishes to take the viewers on an audio-visual journey across various corners of Pakistan and make them have a look at the country’s cultural practices with an approach that is not parochial.

The proof is that the festival will commence with “The Lost Procession”, a documentary film by Bani Abidi which will cover the vicissitudes of Quetta’s Hazara community and will reflect on the displacement they have to suffer to find refuge outside Pakistan. The opening of the festival with this film while the new Islamic year characterized by Shia rituals has just begun will hopefully promise a more peaceful and tolerant year resulting in lessened persecution of the minority group at the hands of the Sunni majority. “Indus Blues” by Jawad Sharif will perambulate between the region’s indigenous music and the ironically reserved attitude when it comes to the practice of this art.

Tazeen Bari’s “Vote for X” will be based on the struggle of Nayab Ali, an Okara based transgender who contested the National Assembly seat in the 2018 general election in Pakistan despite all obvious odds and Mahera Omar’s “The Rebel Optimist” will acquaint Pakistanis with the life of the urban planner, Parween Rehman who devoted herself to the miscellaneous problems of the country’s poverty-stricken class but was shot dead by the power tycoons in her way whose malpractices were exposed by her. Daniyal Rasheed, through “Mela Chiraghan” will make the viewers walk through the Subcontinent’s alleys, lit figuratively with the mysticism that prevails in the land owing to the existence of Sufis like Shah Hussain, and literally with the lights that devotees put on to celebrate their beloved mystics’ birthdays.

Through “Puff Puff Pak”, Fahad Naveed will dwell on the country’s stereotypes associated with drug intake and masculinity while Gulzar Nayani’s “No More Backseaters” will try to assess the country’s attitude towards women who have taken up bike-riding against all patriarchal and misogynistic odds. “This Shaking Keeps Me Steady” by Shehrezad Maher promises a Magical Realist representation of dream and reality coupled with an observation that will try to locate the difference between actual trauma and its recollected and retold form. Lastly, Umar Riaz’s “Some Lover to Some Beloved” will talk about the contemporariness of Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s poetry and the magic that gets attached to it when recited by Pakistan’s most eloquent artist, Zia Moheyuddin with a relatability that connects both the poet and the reciter at a certain level.

All of this tells that the documentaries will touch upon Pakistan’s music, Pakistan’s poetry, and Pakistan’s cultural festivals and at the same time, Pakistan’s unfortunate failure at making progression at many socio-political levels but with the hope that things will change for the good, for, the motto of the festival goes like: “#forlocalsbylocals.

“To make a change, we need to understand our people and their attitudes better. And if we want to do it, we need to start watching documentaries made in Pakistan, especially the ones made by Pakistanis,” says Haya Fatima, the co-founder of the Documentary Association of Pakistan (DAP).

Another organizer, seconding Haya Fatima’s opinion, tells that what sets “Chalta Phirta Doc Fest” apart from other festivals is that its creative productions have been made to present them before Pakistanis so that they can get to have a better and deeper understanding of their culture and also be able to realize if something is wrong somewhere. She says, “These films won’t be kept hidden from Pakistanis and sent outside the country instead. They will be shown here for the indigenous people to watch and analyze.”

The nine films’ screening will stretch across four months, starting from the 22^nd of August and ending on the 29^th of November, giving the viewers plenty of time to reflect on each film. Considering the limitations caused by the pandemic, the films will be available to watch on the YouTube channel of DAP (The Documentary Association of Pakistan) every second or third week on a weekend at 6 P.M.

Helmed by highly talented, learned, and professional film-makers like Haya Fatima, Anam Abbas, Tazeen Bari, Risham Waseem, and Fahad Naveed and initiated with a practical purpose, “Chalta Phirta Doc Fest” certainly promises a change that comes with radical art and literature, whether written or visual.