KARACHI: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Pakistan’s leading filmmaker, has launched a platform to empower women filmmakers and provide them with a launchpad so their careers can take off when it comes to making films in Pakistan. The program will not only provide these women with funding but also mentorship.
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SOC films, in a post on their social media, urges women to apply at any stage of their production, and the house will facilitate them with investment.
“We are excited to announce the launch of a funding & mentorship grant, PATAKHA PICTURES, to empower, promote & support the next generation of women filmmakers and storytellers in Pakistan, creating powerful, thought-provoking works of fiction and non-fiction. With PATAKHA PICTURES, we are looking to facilitate filmmakers from under-represented and underserved areas to help them tell stories that are in line with the SOC Films mission: Stories that Matter,” notified SOC films on their Instagram page.
“We want to champion creative independence in visual storytelling and support a community of emerging and the next generation of female filmmakers who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision, searching for stories which push the boundaries of how we see ourselves and the world, urgent expressions of the human experience, and compelling visions for the future,” says Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy regarding her initiative to help women make films. “We realize that filmmaking is not easy, it requires intervention in the form of grants and mentorship and we are here to provide female filmmakers with both and help them achieve their dreams.”
The initiative is an exemplary cause where women help women achieve better.
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PATAKHA PICTURES will be funding single fiction and non-fiction short-form films (less than 40-minutes). The projects can be documentary, animation, and live-action from Pakistan. Any idea that adheres to the required format, and needs seed funding or counseling will be provided for. Candidates can submit their applications, and after a period of six weeks, finalists will be selected and required to submit additional materials.
The funding cycle starts in October 2021 and the final decisions will be announced in January 2022. More details about the project are on their way and will be made public in September 2021.
