ISLAMABAD: Islamabad’s love for creativity and networking came to life on Saturday evening when scores of young amateur and aspiring filmmakers came to attend the screening of the 60 Second International Film Festival and American Film Showcase.

Held at the Aiwan-i-Quaid auditorium, the festival started with the screening of two short films: ‘Listening is an act of love’ and ‘The science of character’. This was followed by top 10 films received from over 20 countries spanning 60 seconds each which were then screened for the audience.

The American Film Showcase (AFS) is the premier American film diplomacy bringing US filmmakers and the films to the audience worldwide. AFS is a partnership between the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. The showcase highlights the power of films to foster dialogue, understanding and debate.

The AFS is visiting Pakistan for the second time. In partnership with Hunerkada College, American filmmakers Martha Mitchell and Andy Merkin have led workshops for emerging Pakistani filmmakers besides engaging industry professionals in roundtable discussions for the US film industry.

Pakistani film ‘One Won’ was declared one of the best productions

Made by Mike and Tim Rauch, the first ever animated feature from StoryCorps celebrates the transformative power of listening. Listening is an Act of Love, presents six stories from 10 years of the innovative and history project, where every day people sit down together to ask life’s important questions and share stories from their lives.

The Science of Character, made by Tiffany Shlain, is a TED-Ed project that focuses on how humans develop character. This short ‘cloud’ film focuses on how humans have their own unique combination of character strengths and when focused these strengths can be used to boost happiness, enhance success and deepen relationships. This film is a lesson about the science behind how character can be learned, practiced and cultivated.

These were followed by words of advice from American filmmakers Martha Mitchell and Andy Merkin. An interactive question and answer session was conducted by Andy Merkin and Martha Mitchell who responded to the quarries.

60SIFF is a youth capacity building initiative designed to showcase the creative talents of young filmmakers as a means of addressing various issues that prevail in the society today. The festival calls for films spanning 60 seconds that are based on the categories of comedy, conflict, fiction, colours of your country, creative, environment, water, interfaith, peace and tolerance. These films allow individuals to voice their views, create awareness and educate the citizens.

A Pakistani and two foreign films were selected as the best productions out of the several films received from around the world. Made by Zahid Gill and Kumail Ali Shareef from Pakistan, the short film, ‘One Won’ was announced as the best of them all.

Shankar Dhital got the second prize for his film ‘Graphene’. And Asia Khmeleva came third for her short production ‘To See’.

This year, 60SIFF broadened its parameters by inviting short films from 20 countries around the world.

The efforts of the young film makers were selected on the basis of technique, style, script and the impact the films made in just 60 seconds.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2015

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