Slackistan is the latest film by young Pakistanis which reveals a face of the country that is not religious or militant. And this is not simply because of the theme of the film but also because who the makers are. A simple movie with a simple message, this low budget film out of Islamabad has won worldwide acclaim. Not only has it been shown at the Cannes Film Festival, it has also been selected for the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

But no less interesting is the story of how young people came together to make this film. Slackistan became a reality when its director Hammad Khan visited Islamabad and was overwhelmed by memories of his time spent here. It hit him to make a film that would remind Islooites who had moved on of by-gone days spent in some of their favourite hangouts in the city.

According to the cast members, Slackistan was not a biography but still the film contained a bit of the director himself.In their 20s the cast came from a theatre background. “This was the first time in front of the camera for both stage actor Shahana Khan Khalil and film student Shahbaz Shigri who played the lead role.

“He [Khan] had seen me act on stage and approached me to share his ideas on how he wanted to make a film on the life of young people in Islamabad. But three years passed before I heard from him again,” said Shahana Khan Khalil, one of the five main cast members.

But once Khan did decide to make the film and put his cast together, he moved fast. The 87 minutes film was shot over three weeks in 2009 on real locations such as the houses of friends.

All it took was discipline that the director brought with him along with cameras and his sound man for this privately funded film. After that, it was

mostly filming in Islamabad – at spots where young people hung out.

“The biggest fear was not act in an exaggerated manner as we do on stage. The director made it simple when he told us that he did not want us to act,” said Ms Khalil.

When asked if she had any reservations, she admitted that she was apprehensive about filming outdoors given that suicide bombers were wreaking havoc throughout the country, including Islamabad.

Shahbaz Shigri was picked by the director for his passion for filming. Osman Khalid Butt, who played another major role in the film, on the other hand, had earlier experience because he had worked on Zibakhana.

Yet, while filming, the young cast had no idea what their efforts would lead to. So one can imagine their surprise when Slackistan was among the 170 feature films picked out of 2,000 entries at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

“We only thought a few people would see it. We didn’t expect the whole world would watch it. It was beyond anything we had ever imagined.

Even Adrien Brody knew us. Both shows sold out,” said Ms Khalil.

However, Mr Butt had faith that Slackistan would hit it big. “It showcases a different face of Pakistan. It opens a lot of eyes because of its fresh perspective and shows the youth of Pakistan’s coming of age,” he said.For Mr Shigri the fact that the film came out of Islamabad made it different.

The cast takes away more than just fame from the entire experience. “It’s the way the world is waiting to embrace our positive contributions.

How they expect us to work on something great and that they are on our side. It’s about not being pressured but using that pressure in our favour. That’s the meaning of Slackistan – stop slacking,” said Ms Khalil.