Karachi-based filmmaker wins award

Staff Report

KARACHI: Karachi based renowned young filmmaker, artist and director
Sharjil Baloch's famous classical documentary film Ki Jana Main Kaun
(Who knows what I am) has won the first prize in the South Asian
Interactive Documentary Film Festival held in Nepal's capital
Kathmandu last week.

About a hundred documentary producers, leading directors and
journalists from eight South Asia countries, Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka submitted their
films in the festival.

Ki Jana Main Kaun, reflects the cultural festivals of Sufism, one of
the national identities of the Sindhi culture.

It Sharjil a year to complete his documentary and during that year, he
visited dozens of shrines of Sufi saints in Sindh. Baloch's entire
perspective on life changed when he exposed himself to Sufism. The
idea of making such film came to him suddenly when he visited Sadh
Belo, a historical Hindu religious place which is located on an island
in River Indus.

"I found a watchman praying and reciting the Quran inside Sadh Belo.
Surprised, I asked the watchman how he is allowed to pray inside a
Hindu temple, he told me that in Sufism this is not strange. So I
started researching and collecting information on Sufism and I found
it to be very interesting and thus I started working on the
documentary."


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\01\05\story_5-1-2009_pg12_7
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