Zarrar Kahn, also sometimes credited as Hamza Bangash, is a Pakistani-Canadian film director and screenwriter,[1] whose debut feature film In Flames premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival,[2] and was Pakistan's official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards in 2024.[3]
Zarrar Kahn | |
|---|---|
 Kahn in 2024 | |
| Born | 1991 Karachi, Pakistan |
| Education | Queen's University (BA) Canadian Film Centre (Director's Lab) |
| Occupations |
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Biography
editOriginally from Karachi, Pakistan,[4] he spent part of his childhood there before emigrating with his family to Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.[2] He has continued to live and work in both countries, with most of his films being Pakistani-Canadian co-productions.
His first short, Dia, won the Audience Award during the 2020 Locarno Film Festival. Stray Dogs Come Out at Night, his next short, was the first film from Pakistan to be selected at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.[5]
His films typically centre on characters who are struggling against their status as outsiders in Pakistan's conservative religious society, such as women, people with physical or intellectual disabilities, LGBT people or members of religious minority groups.
In Flames was the winner of the John Dunning Best First Feature Award at the 12th Canadian Screen Awards in 2024.[6]
Filmography
editReferences
edit- ^ Radheyan Simonpillai, "Canada at Cannes: Zarrar Kahn looks to set the Croisette on fire with incendiary debut In Flames". The Globe and Mail, May 16, 2023.
- ^ Naman Ramachandran, "Pakistan Oscar Contender ‘In Flames’ Wins Mannheim-Heidelberg Prize". Variety, November 27, 2023.
- ^ Namrata Joshi, "Another Pakistani film tackling patriarchy to premiere in France". Al Jazeera, April 19, 2023.
- ^ "Hamza Bangash’s latest short to premiere at Clermont-Ferrand Int’l Short Film Festival". The News International, December 2019.
- ^ Connie Thiessen, "Canadian Screen Awards winners: Cinematic Arts". Broadcast Dialogue, May 30, 2024.
- ^ Hala Syed, "Film Review: Dia by Hamza Bangash". Youlin Magazine, February 28, 2019.
- ^ Panos Kotzathanis, "Short Film Review: 1978 (2020) by Hamza Bangash". Asian Movie Pulse, April 19, 2022.
- ^ Rob Munday, "Stray Dogs Come Out at Night". Short of the Week, November 4, 2021.
- ^ "Pakistani short film Bhai makes it to prestigious Toronto International Film Festival". Dawn, August 16, 2021.
External links
edit- Zarrar Kahn at IMDb