Winners of short film contest ‘Heroes of Pakistan’ announced

KARACHI: The winners of much awaited short film competition “Heroes of Pakistan” were announced in a humble ceremony held at the Karachi Press Club on Monday to acknowledge the youths who have demonstrated their film making potential by contesting in the competition organized by the American companies Green Card Capital and SoundView Broadcasting.

While addressing a press conference, Chief Operating Officer of Green Card Capital Abbas Hashmi said that the project aims to provide the youth a convenient and accessible platform to showcase their creativity and help them discover their own hidden potential.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the public enthusiasm for our Heroes of Pakistan film competition and the personal effort and sincerity that went into the making of every entry.”

CEO Green Card Capital Abbas Hashmi told that they had received an over-whelming response from all over the country and received more than 150 entries submitted by the youngsters, mostly students.

The winning documentary films depicted the unique heroes from various walks of life including social workers, teachers, and figures who played an extraordinary role in defeating obstacles in life or to preserve Pakistan’s culture.

The first prize of $1,000 was won by Danish Hashmi, producer of ‘Baadban’ while the second prize of $500 was fetched by Mohammad Ali Hakeem who had produced ‘Guddu’.

Sana Nasir, the producer of ‘Life in the Dark’, stood winner for the third prize of $250 while Umar Tariq received the special peoples’ choice award for ‘The Philanthropist – A kind-hearted soul’, documenting the renowned social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi. He received the fourth and previously unannounced prize of $100.

Along with receiving the cash prizes, the winners have also bagged internships in TV production in Pakistan and USA while they will also make television appearances on Pakistani channels in the USA distributed by the SoundView Broadcasting.

The young achievers, beaming on their success, said that it is a gratifying opportunity and now their ambitions have soared even higher after receiving the acknowledgement. Expressing the significance of such projects, they were of the view that it is a crucial platform to showcase youth talent and to experiment with fresh ideas.

The panel of the judges included noted film and TV directors Mehreen Jabbar and Bilal Lashari, producer and advertising maven Shahzad Nawaz, filmmakers Iram Parveen Bilal, Mumtaz Hussain and Mathew Newton, ethnic marketing expert Stephanie Herold, actor-writer Aizzah Fatima and digital media expert Sarah Khan.

Vowing to continue this project in the coming years, CEO Green Card Capital Abbas Hashmi told that the next programme will be announced in August due to the encouraging feedback.

“It’s our intention to make this a yearly event and to continue to provide a forum for honouring heroic Pakistanis from every strata of society,” Hashmi said.

“We are contacting several notable writers and celebrities for the future projects, aiming to tap the youngsters with potential,” he added.

It may be mentioned here that the sponsors, Green Card Capital and SoundView Broadcasting, had invited the aspiring filmmakers to participate in the competition by submitting an original five-minute video clip and employing any medium to record and produce the film. The choice of the heroes and film style were entirely up to the entrants.

The contenders of the ‘Heroes of Pakistan’ had one month deadline to submit their entries that started from September 1, 2013 and expired on October 31, 2013.

SoundView Broadcasting, the broadcaster and distributor of international TV channels in USA, in collaboration with consulting and investment firm Green Card Capital are determined to improve awareness about the Pakistani cinema and arts among the American audience by offering exposure and opportunities to aspiring filmmakers in Pakistan.