Pakistani Filmmaker’s ‘HEAL’ wins at the 2011 Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, JULY 29, 2011 – HEAL, a supernatural short film set between Afghanistan and Pakistan has won the ‘Best Science Fiction / Fantasy Film’ award at this year’s Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival (CCI-IFF).
The final year thesis film written and directed by Pakistani filmmaker, Mian Adnan Ahmad screened at this year’s Comic-Con as part of the CCI-IFF on Saturday, July 23 and received the prize during the Awards Ceremony the next day. During Comic-Con Adnan was in Pakistan and the film was represented by Marcus Metsala (Producer), Yukako Shimada (Editor) and actors Navid Negahban, Ameer Zhowandai and Fereshta Kazemi. A member of the jury and well known film critic Eric Vespe was impressed by the quality of storytelling, production value and performances in HEAL,
“If I had seen this at Sundance or Toronto…it would have fit in with that level of programming…it really is an incredible short and it’s not preachy with the subject matter either…in some shorts you see a lot of especially political commentary…shorts that are trying to use sci-fi or horror or comedy to kind of tell a message and this one has a message but it doesn’t beat you over the head with it and that’s what really impressed me outside of the amazing production value, the great performances and the very interesting story.”
HEAL won while in competition against some very well made films with high budgets. Marcus Metsala, the Producer for HEAL was present at CCI-IFF and said,
“Everything was done well and the audience really connected with our film. I would like to thank the film festival organizers and judges and fellow filmmakers for an amazing and memorable event of excellence in filmmaking and we are honored that HEAL has received this award.”
The film’s writer and director, Mian Adnan Ahmad was also very pleased to hear that HEAL had won in the ‘Science Fiction / Fantasy’ category,
“Growing up, I have always been a fan of this genre…the amazing characters and stories that come from this world…for me they represent a fantastic way to reflect on reality and the issues dealt with in our societies. So as a filmmaker it’s really cool that our film, which tells a story set in the Pakistan / Afghanistan region, has not only screened there, but also won and we really appreciate this recognition by the festival’s jury”
Having been part of numerous competitions and screened at more than 20 film festivals worldwide, this is the 19th award the film has received so far, while competing against short films, documentaries and feature-length films. The film was also honored with the prestigious Frank Capra Award earlier this year at the Fallbrook Film Festival for which Adnan was flown to the U.S to receive the award from Frank Capra III himself (grandson of six-time academy award winning film director, Frank Capra, after whom the award is named).
Members of the cast also include Hannah Sher, Walid Amini and Reha Zamani. Other main credits for the film include Dani Sanchez-Lopez (Cinematography), Prajakta Ghag (Production design), John Kenneth E. Brady (Sound design) and Tuomas Kantelinen (Original music score). Two traditional music pieces for the film were also performed and recorded by musicians Abid Ahmad and Sayadullah in Baghicha Dheri; Adnan’s village near Mardan, Pakistan.
Although HEAL has only screened a few times in Pakistan, the response has always been special. This includes a screening arranged by the LUMS Film Festival (Filums) in Lahore earlier this year, which was open to students, special guests and participants of the festival. Other than this the very first screening was arranged by the Asian Study Group (ASG) and then by Kuch Khaas in Islamabad. With word about the film gradually spreading amongst the masses, the filmmakers hope to be able to screen to larger audiences all over the country and in Afghanistan as well.
To view the trailer for HEAL and learn more you can visit the official facebook page of HEAL.
