LAHORE: The three-day third annual edition of the Asia Peace Film Festival titled ‘Lyrical Lahore 2019’ kicked off at the Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture (Pilac) amidst traditional splendour on Wednesday.

A galaxy of guests from home and abroad and film buffs showed up at the inauguration of the event. Pilac Director General Saman Rai inaugurated the festival which is being organised by the APFF in collaboration with Pilac.

In her welcome speech, Ms Rai said the festival was considered one of the best events when it comes to city’s cultural milieu. She said an appreciative audience should attend such an event that presents short films, documentaries, animations and music videos.

“The films being screened at the festival are a treat to watch not only for the filmmakers but also for the general public,” she said and added that Pilac would continue to hold art and cultural activities to provide creative entertainment to the people. The event is open to the public.

The organisers receive entries from more than 40 Asian countries

Part of the opening ceremony was a performance by young rubab player Waseem and screening of festival’s show reel.

Husnain Alhani, the festival director from AlNahaj Film Festival, Karbala, thanked the organisers for inviting him to the event which is “a classic opportunity to see films being made in different corners of the world.” Iraq, he said, had recently come out of war but the real problem was of negative thinking.

Among the prominent names attending the festival are Zafar Meraj, a writer from Karachi, Husnain Alhani from Iraq, film director Amir Qureshi, son of Mustafa Qureshi, and filmmaker Mahira Umar from Karachi.

For the organisers, the festival is a contribution to the revival of the film industry in Pakistan. The festival’s third edition (after those held in Islamabad, Karachi and Quetta) is based on the theme of building the narrative of peace by engaging youth and mobilising creativity. It will be connecting Lahore’s creative people, especially youngsters, with the regional community to celebrate the lyrical lures and aims at rejuvenating the city and highlighting its identity as a ‘syncretic center’ of Pakistan.

The APFF has received more than 370 submissions/entries in four categories of short films, animations, documentaries and music videos to compete for awards from more than 40 Asian countries. The festival will showcase more than 125 selected films in the four categories in addition to the special screening of featured films.

It will also facilitate three sessions of policy dialogue during the Film Conference wherein top of the line filmmakers, actors, experts, academicians and celebrities will brainstorm themes of peace, art, culture and heritage. The film production master classes on the sidelines of the festival will be a promising opportunity for students from the public and private universities to hone their skill.

The APFF is a multi-country consortium of film entities from the Asian countries. Since its inception in 2017, it has been a platform for new work from established filmmakers and discoveries from emerging voices in short film, documentary, animation and music videos. Initially, to commemorate the World Peace Day, the Asia Peace Film Festival’s 1st Edition was organised in Islamabad. In its follow-up edition, film festival was organised at Karachi in 2018 with the theme “KARACHI SAB KA” (Karachi for everyone). Recently, the APFF Quetta Edition was organised under the theme of “Creative Quetta”.

The three events hosted more than 75 international delegates, artists, filmmakers, directors, producers and faculty members from Asian countries and attracted a number of national celebrities and young filmmakers to benefit from a unique gathering of creative community spreading the message of peace through cinematography.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2019