Kolachi's Story is a stop motion animation film, produced at Matteela Studio in Karachi, Pakistan.

The idea behind the short film, Kolachi's Story is to develop an understanding of Karachi's history through stop motion animation films.

People should know that Kolachi is much much more than just the name of the city’s by-pass road.

I believe with such work one can at least attempt to look at the myths about Mai Kolachi that are so central to this city’s history, yet most under-represented.

The fact that this city is named after a brave woman who was head of her tribe is something that should be celebrated, and that is precisely why we decided to base this short film on one of the folk tales about Mai Kolachi.

The author with his team at Matteela Studio.

Stop motion animations have never been done in Pakistan at this level so it was very hard to put together a team and evolve a process. But, for the same reason, everyone was extremely excited to take on this project.

We experimented initially and then finally developed a workflow. We manufactured everything for this film locally. We started by getting steel armatures made from Lalu Khet; then we would sculpt the characters in plasticine and take out moulds in Plaster of Paris, and then finally cast the characters in silicon with the steel armatures delicately placed inside.

The steel armature helped with body movement, while the silicon held the characters firmly in place.

Behind the scenes of Kolachi's Story.

Behind the scenes of Kolachi's Story.

Over the past few months, the entire Matteela team has learnt so much from the entire process of these short films that we now feel we should utilise this amazing experience and perhaps attempt a longer film.

The author with the characters of Kolachi's Story.

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