PESHAWAR: An award winning short film, showcasing climate change and significance of girls’ education, was screened at Bacha Khan Markaz here on Tuesday.

The short film titled ‘Khobuna Da Sparlee’ (dreams of spring) was produced under the auspices of Awami National Party (ANP). It has won first position in a recent short films competition.

The short film was termed a successful attempt aimed at raising awareness among people on environmental hazards and education of girls.

Gul Bushra, Kinza Khattak, Nouman Khattak, Shadab Afridi and Malala performed different roles in the short video. Main theme of the film is climate change and importance of girls’ education. The participants of the event praised the wonderful performance by young performers. They also lauded Fayyazud Din, the producer of the short film.

Sponsored by a private group of companies, the short film was scripted and directed by Jamil Iqbal. The competition of short films was recently aired on a private Pashto channel. Intellectuals, rights activists and political workers participated in the event.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, provincial chief of ANP, who chaired the event, said that his party had always encouraged young people to contribute to the society through their creative strength and come up with innovative ideas to bring about a substantive change in the mental makeup of people.

“ANP believes in the strength of youth and therefore, offers its platform to such young individuals, especially poets, writers and artists to display their latent talent. Bacha Khan Baba was the first to have had introduced live theatre in this region,” he said.

Mr Hussain appreciated the message conveyed through the short film and said that girls’ education was one of the main objectives of Bacha Khan. That’s why he had founded more than 300 Azad schools for educating youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added.

“Theatrical performances and literary activities were used as powerful tools of non-violence towards building an inclusive and forward looking Pashtun society,” he recalled.

ANP provincial general secretary Husain Shah Khan, culture secretary Advocate Akbar Hoti and noted folk artist Fazal Wahab Dard also spoke at the function.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2024