As the happily patriarchal Rana family craves for the birth of a baby boy, the youngest of the Rana men secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and finds himself falling for a fiercely ambitious trans starlet. Their impossible love story slowly illuminates the entire Rana family’s desire for a sexual rebellion.Read More »
Pakistan
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Saim Sadiq – Joyland (2022)
2021-2030DramaPakistanQueer Cinema(s)Saim Sadiq -
Khwaja Sarfraz – Zinda Laash AKA The Living Corpse AKA Dracula in Pakistan (1967)
1961-1970CultHorrorKhwaja SarfrazPakistanPakistan’s answer to Dracula, this campy horror film from director Khwaja Sarfaraz stars Rehan as a maniacal scientist whose search for immortality results in his transformation into a blood-sucking creature of the night. Will the no-nonsense investigator trailing the vampire escape with his life? The only Pakistani film given an X rating upon its initial release, this B-movie classic also stars Nasreen, Yasmine, Habib and Asad Bukhari.Read More »
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Jamil Dehlavi – The Blood of Hussain (1981)
1981-1990ArthouseJamil DehlaviPakistanPoliticsA dramatic depiction of the life of Hussain, with allegorical references to the history of the Prophet Muhammad and his descendants. It is prophesied that Young Hussain will one day lead the impoverished masses to a better life. It is his brother, Hasan, however who gains in prominence and when the government is overthrown in a military coup, he tries to adapt. Hussain in the meanwhile gets married and leads a small band of rebels in an attempt to fight the military dictatorship.Read More »
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Daniel Asadi Faezi – The Absence of Apricots (2018)
2011-2020Daniel Asadi FaeziDocumentaryFantasyPakistanA village in the mountains of Northern Pakistan. One day, a landslide congested a river. Thousands of homes and fields were inundated. Villages vanished. What is left are the people and their stories, passed on from one generation to another. And the ghosts, that are still roaming the region.
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A documentary fairy-tale about the struggle for identity in the Hunza Valley set in a village located in the Northern-Pakistan somewhere between the past and the future. A magnificent turquoise lake in between rough, steep cliff surrounds the small village. But the lake hasn’t been always there. One day, an enormous landslide blocked a river. In a few months, this river turned into a huge lake, which is now up to 30km long. Thousands of homes and fields were flooded. Entire villages disappeared forever. Thousands of people got dislocated and had to look for different places where to live. What is left are the stories of those that once used to live there which are passed on from generation to generation. Weaving together the past and the future, myths and sketches of everyday life, director Daniel Asadi Faezi creates a rich tapestry of images that create a sensual and textured dance of death and resurrection. And the ghosts that still roam the cliffs and the valley, join the humans in their dance.Read More »