Chaal is a poignant documentary that traces the everyday life of theatre actor and student Ayaz Baig, whose journey challenges dominant narratives around disability and identity. The film opens with Baig’s morning routine of vocal exercises before accompanying him to the theatre where his passion for performance is most alive. Along the way, Baig reflects on the life-altering road accident that resulted in a spinal injury and continues to shape his physical mobility. Yet, rather than defining himself through limitation, Baig reclaims his identity as an actor, performer, and community member. At its core, Chaal advocates for a reimagining of disability, urging society to recognize individuals not through the lens of impairment but as full and equal participants in social and cultural life. By foregrounding Baig’s resilience, artistry, and self-conception, the documentary disrupts reductive categorizations and affirms the dignity and agency of differently abled individuals.

Unseen is a compelling short film that illuminates the lived realities of Salamat Masih, a Christian sewage worker in Pakistan, while situating his story within the broader marginalization of religious minorities in the country. For over three decades, Masih has endured not only the hazardous conditions of sewage work—where exposure to toxic gases poses constant risks to life—but also the dehumanizing behavior of a society that stigmatizes his labor. The film underscores how sanitation work in Pakistan is systemically relegated to Christians and other minority communities, as dominant Muslim social norms construe such labor as impure and incompatible with religious identity. By foregrounding Masih’s testimony, Unseen confronts viewers with the intersections of caste-like hierarchies, religious discrimination, and structural violence. It offers a searing critique of the ways in which marginalized groups are both exploited for essential services and simultaneously excluded from dignity and recognition within society.

Ek Pyaar ka Tappa offers an intimate exploration of the craft of tabla making and the enduring cultural traditions of music in Karachi. Through filmmaker Marya’s encounter with Aftab Hussain—an artisan and third-generation custodian of the Sufi Music Palace—the documentary captures the painstaking process of handcrafting a tabla while situating this practice within a legacy of devotion and artistry. Hussain recounts how his father and grandfather sustained the space not merely as a workshop, but as a cultural hub where music and community converge. For decades, neighbors and music enthusiasts alike have gathered at the shop, making it a site of continuity, exchange, and appreciation. More than a livelihood, tabla making embodies Hussain’s lineage, passion, and commitment to sustaining musical heritage. By foregrounding this intersection of craft, memory, and community, Ek Pyaar ka Tappa highlights the living traditions that animate Karachi’s cultural landscape.

Against the Rubble brings to the fore the contested realities of urban development and the human costs of forced displacement in Karachi. Focusing on the informal settlement of Gharibabad, the documentary traces the aftermath of the 2019 Supreme Court directive to revive the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), which resulted in eviction notices being served to long-standing residents. Central to the narrative is Ayesha, a young woman from Gharibabad who emerges as a leader, organizing community protests and spearheading communication efforts. Alongside her stands Fizza Qureshi of the Karachi Bachao Tehreek, a grassroots collective resisting dispossession and advocating for the rights of marginalized communities. Through their testimonies, the film highlights the demands for resettlement guarantees and compensation, underscoring the resilience of residents—especially women—in the face of systemic displacement. By documenting both the struggle and its partial victory, wherein anti-encroachment operations were suspended in Gharibabad, Against the Rubble sheds light on the intersection of urban planning, state power, and grassroots resistance.

Bakarwals: The Shepherds of Kashmir offers an intimate portrait of the Bakarwal community, a nomadic group whose way of life now stands on the edge of an existential crisis. Rooted in the valleys and highlands of Kashmir, the Bakarwals have for generations practiced pastoral nomadism, migrating seasonally with their herds. Yet their traditional routes and rearing grounds have been fractured by the partition of 1947 and the subsequent division of Kashmir into Indian- and Pakistan-administered territories. Borders, once absent from their lives, now cut through grazing lands and settlements, reshaping the geography of survival.

Through conversations with Makhan Din, the head of the tribe, and his wife, the documentary captures both the richness of Bakarwal traditions and the vulnerabilities they face. Alongside the disruptions of geopolitical boundaries, the community grapples with the accelerating impacts of climate change, urbanization, and modernization—all of which threaten their mobility and cultural continuity. At its core, the film meditates on the fragility and resilience of nomadic traditions in a world increasingly defined by environmental precarity and political conflict, while foregrounding the voices of those striving to sustain their heritage against the odds.

Iconic Shrine of Odero Lal explores the unique interfaith harmony embodied in the shrine of Odero Lal—known to Hindus as Jhulelal—in Sindh, Pakistan. Revered by both Muslim and Hindu communities, the shrine serves as a living testament to shared spiritual traditions and the porous boundaries between faiths in the region. The film captures how local Hindus and Muslims not only worship side by side but also jointly manage and sustain the shrine, extending its message of service and compassion to all who visit. Pilgrims arrive from across Pakistan, India, and beyond, reflecting the shrine’s enduring significance as a space of spiritual and cultural convergence. Through testimonies of devotees, the documentary emphasizes Odero Lal’s core message: to serve humanity and practice kindness without distinction of religion. By highlighting the mutual respect that underpins the shrine’s practices, the film situates the site within the broader ethos of Sufism, where love and service transcend communal boundaries. In doing so, Iconic Shrine of Odero Lal portrays a powerful example of coexistence and spiritual solidarity in a time often marked by division.

This documentary interweaves the story of Liaquat Dar, a former militant turned artisan, with the broader history of Kashmir. Once a freedom fighter from Indian-administered Kashmir, Dar now lives in Pakistan as a traditional craftsman. He recalls a childhood shaped by coexistence between Hindus and Muslims, before the violence of the 1990s pushed many, including himself, into armed struggle. Having left home for training, he has never returned. Today, Dar channels his vision of Kashmir’s freedom through art, believing in the power of cultural revival. In collaboration with artist Sidra Khawaja, he reimagines the 19th-century Kashmiri map shawl—first displayed at the 1878 Paris Universal Exhibition and regarded as a masterpiece of textile history. The original depicted Kashmir’s gardens, rivers, shrines, and houses as a collage of shared heritage. The new version reflects forced divisions, political turmoil, and contested cartographies, transforming craft into a commentary on memory, identity, and resistance.

This documentary turns to Machar Colony, Karachi’s largest informal settlement, to examine the lives of those sustaining the city’s prawn-peeling industry. Predominantly women, workers spend up to 18 hours a day in hazardous conditions, their bare hands exposed to ice, chemicals, and toxins, for wages that barely ensure survival. The industry’s reliance on undocumented or marginalized communities—many of them of Bengali origin—means workers are systematically excluded from labor protections, health care, and legal opportunities. Those deemed stateless face an added layer of precarity, while even citizens fear arbitrary disenfranchisement during CNIC renewals. The film highlights how political neglect and structural discrimination keep the colony in cycles of poverty, invisibility, and dispossession. Beyond the physical toll of illness and exhaustion, the documentary underscores the psychological and cultural costs of systemic abandonment, where a once vibrant community identity is increasingly reduced to anonymity, survival, and erasure.