Pakistan’s official entry for the Best International Film for the 2024 Academy Awards ‘In Flames’, directed by Pakistani-Canadian debutant Zarrar Kahn was the first Pakistani feature film to screen in the Cannes Directors Fortnight (in 2023) in nearly half a century. And now, it is scheduled to premiere in theatres across the U.S. on April 12.
Having garnered widespread acclaim and accolades at various Film Festivals, the poster of the feature sets a harrowing premise. With a mixture of rebellion and fear set like concrete behind their eyes, the poster portrays two women – the one at the forefront is fearful, while the one at the back has a comparatively bolder look on her face.
The overall storyline of the film is defined as a ghastly parable about Pakistan’s deep-seated insidious patriarchal order. As the movie progresses and a patriarchal figure of their family dies, the mother and daughter duo at the crux of the plot slowly start losing grip on the reality they’ve always known. Patriarchal violence is all around them and neither can seemingly escape it.
Together, the protagonists Fariha and Mariam’s stories illustrate the subtle but unavoidable ways in which many Pakistani women’s lives are instructed by men. A successful attempt at straddling the line between art and an accurate account of resilience, ‘In Flames’ is all set to blow the minds of fans of such cinema!
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