By: Awais Arif
To counter violent extremism and tribal conflicts, which had been gripping up in different parts of Sindh, especially in district Khairpur Mir’s, Shikarpur and Jacobabad.
Mehrdar Art & Production (MAP) started “Stories of Sindh”, a program which seeks to encourage youth to come together to reclaim the reputation of the historically inclusive society of Sindh through documentaries and reduce community member’s vulnerability to negative narratives that depict and create divisions and intolerances.
Team MAP provided free training to 75 youth from Khairpur, Shikarpur and Jacobabad (25 youth from each district) in documentary filmmaking from July 17, 2020 till July 22, 2020.
The participants produced 12 films based on positive narratives, using examples of diversity and communal harmony.
The virtual launch of the 12 films was held on Sunday through a virtual session attended by participants and the trainer, however a physical launch has also been announced on October 9, 2020 at Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai University in Khairpur.
The films with maximum lenth of 4 minutes are titled as An Inspirational Polio worker, Art knows no limits, A tailor’s journey, Unvoiced citizens, Sports for women empowerment, Preserving the national literary heritage, The struggle for freedom of women, Using radio for social change, A struggle for women education and peace, Empowering women through sports, Dream of a humane and peaceful Jacobabad, and Journey in Rhythm.
Training was conducted by Award-Winning Filmmakers Haya Fatima Iqbal, Haseeb Halai & Ali Brohi.
Where they learned – Understanding importance of storytelling: By having in-depth discussions on indigenous stories, current trends in visual storytelling, and contemporary styles in documentary filmmaking.
The trainer and Award winning film maker Haya Fatima Iqbal added that during various stages of the workshop, participants came to understand how positive storytelling brings communities together and how powerful documentaries can remind audiences about what all is common between them and others.
Iqbal said that the tone was set right in the beginning when the trainer emphasized that documentary filmmaking tends to focus on the “grey” instead of the “black and white”; meaning that one of the main purposes of the medium of documentary is to find nuances in people’s lives that celebrate humanity and diversity instead of creating schisms between them.
“We had participants from different religions and sects, and we had a considerable female presence in a much larger group of men – but everyone respected each other and listened to each others’ thoughts and feelings very respectfully,” Iqbal said.
She concluded that by virtue of people interacting with each other in the sessions, the ideals of pluralism, mutual respect and diversity were being inculcated into participants’ minds at every instance of the workshop.
According to the founder of MAP, Muhammad Fahim, radicalisation in above mentioned parts of Sindh resulted in an intolerant environment which led many people including young Girls and Boys in social and psychological disorders, which results in less productivity of the educated and hardworking communities.
He went onto said that, this not only disturbed the lives and livelihoods but also blocked the local level development including Agriculture, Markets, Community Infrastructure, Education, Health and Water & Sanitation Facilities.
“Many communities have been forced to leave their homes and migrate to other areas of Sindh due to the increase of radical elements in the society,” Fahim added.
Talking about the training, Fahim mentioned that it is highly unusual but due to coronavirus and lockdown, we gave virtual trainings to all the participants.
On the other hand, participants are also excited after the launch of their documentaries, which they believe are a result of great hard-work.
A participant, Ghana Batool said I always get bored at workshops, but this is the first workshop in my life where I was sad that it’s ended.
I learnt a lot during these workshops. Belonging from Minority Christian community, Carol Gill expressed that as a minority I faced religious discrimination during the start of my career as a hockey player, they didn’t select me in a team-first time cause I’m Christian but with time coach and other team player accepted me.
This project is good initiative to tell my story through digital medium. She said that in Khairpur, lot of stories are available and as an international hockey player through documentary filmmaking I would like to highlight the issues of women in sports especially the discrimination which minorities face in team selection
“Since the day we learnt about the importance of local stories and how everyone has a unique story and character, I have been observing people around me; people in my family and people in my neighborhood.
I am noticing how everyone has a distinct character, and how each person adds color to the environment they are in.” said Tahira Batool, another participant.
Meanwhile sharing his experience, participant Ali Farooq said that through this workshop I learnt that observation, a good story and strong documentary characters are important for a good documentary film, instead of reliance on fancy equipment such as drone cameras and expensive lenses.”
