Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Karachi Film Festival faces closure; founder appeals for funds

The annual Karachi Film Festival is in danger of going under forever unless new funds are found. That was the plea last week of founder Hasan Zaidi who is asking for donations to help sustain a slimmed down version of the film festival.

In an appeal sent out to supporters, he said that the festival had been scheduled for February but the global recession meant many of the sponsors had pulled out at the last minute.

The event had been postponed over 2007 and 2008 due to political upheavals in Pakistan.

Mr Zaidi said: “We have seen what the Festival is capable of achieving. We have seen how the Festival has revitalized a cinema culture in Pakistan, built bridges between Pakistani and international filmmakers, initiated an environment of debate and inter-cultural tolerance, and encouraged reativity especially among the youth.”

He added that his team intended to go through with the festival on the scheduled dates Feb 4th, even if it meant they would have to drastically scale back the its activities. “We will have the Festival regardless but how much of it we can pull off depends entirely on how much we can afford. We intend to carry on against all the odds.”

He said it was “our final chance to salvage” the Karachi Film Festival. He is now appealing for donations globally for costs of the 7th KaraFilm Festival.
Contact: karafilm.festival@gmail.com

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