ISLAMABAD: Celebrating the breadth and depth of independent films being made by talented filmmakers, the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) amphitheatre continues to fill up with movie fans looking to experience the Divvy Film Festival.

Divvy Film Festival, the latest venture of Foundation Art Divvy, focuses on independent Pakistani films and includes feature films, short films, documentaries and animated films. Each evening is curated carefully to create a thoughtful and immersive experience for the viewers, ending with a discussion with the film directors.

The themes of the films vary between human stories of love and heartbreak, the resilience of heroic individuals and the trauma of loss, as well as the joy of ordinary and unexpected moments.

On Friday night, festival aficionados watched films such as May I Have This Seat by Tabish Habib, where a young rebellious pregnant woman is travelling by bus to see her doctor and gets into an altercation with a conservative father on the smoggy roads of Lahore.

Other films included Bench by Usman Mukhtar. Which is about a young couple who are at a crossroads in their relationship and leaving each other is just as difficult as staying together. They meet again at their favourite spot to resolve their conflict, once and for all.

Elizabeth, by Jamal Rahman, is about a girl with an unusual phobia of revolving doors who must overcome her fear to get what she so desperately wants.

A film about a problem that has no name was the main theme of the movie titled Settled by Marya Javed, and Lala Begum by Mehreen Jabbar was also shown in which two estranged sisters meet at their family home after 20 years and end up unearthing many skeletons in their closet.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2020