Eight of them showcase documentaries exploring
gender barriers, climate change, child marriage
Qaisar KamranOctober 22, 20264 min readEight of them showcase documentaries exploring gender barriers, climate change, child marriage
KARACHI:
Five years after its launch, Patakha Pictures is continuing its efforts to support emerging documentary filmmakers in Pakistan, providing women with funding, mentorship and a platform to tell stories rooted in their communities.
The initiative, founded by two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy through SOC Films, marked the milestone at a special event in Karachi on October 19, which also showcased the work of eight women filmmakers selected for the 2026 edition of its filmmaking mentorship and funding programme, Claim the Frame.
Presented in partnership with the British Council Pakistan and the Scottish Documentary Institute, the programme brought together eight filmmakers from Punjab, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan, working in four pairs to produce documentaries exploring subjects ranging from women challenging gender barriers to climate change, child marriage and healthcare in remote areas.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy said the celebration marked five years of the initiative’s funding and mentorship programme for female filmmakers in Pakistan.
“We have funded over 75 filmmakers. Their films have played in over 100 festivals around the world and have won over 22 awards,” she said.
Reflecting on the diversity of stories presented at the event, Obaid-Chinoy said eight filmmakers had travelled from different parts of the country, including Shimshal in Gilgit-Baltistan, to showcase their work.
“Their films have been about monsoon brides, they’ve been about midwives, they’ve been about tent pegging, they’ve been about camel racing very diverse films,” she said.
For Obaid-Chinoy, the programme addresses a significant gap in Pakistan’s filmmaking landscape: the lack of access to funding, mentorship and opportunities for aspiring filmmakers.
“Pakistan has so much talent. What we don’t have is access and opportunity, which is what Patakha Pictures provides,” she said.
She added that the initiative emerged from the recognition that filmmakers with strong ideas often struggle to find the re
“If you have an excellent idea, if you have access to make a film, where would you go in Pakistan to get funding and mentorship? We saw a void over there. That’s where we stepped in,” she said.
Obaid-Chinoy said the filmmakers participating in the programme demonstrated what could be achieved when emerging talent was given the right platform.
She also described the programme as a way of creating a wider network of women storytellers who could take their experience back to their communities and support others interested in filmmaking.
“When we fund and mentor them and they come to Karachi and spend time with us, what they say is that they are all ambassadors of their communities, because they have been given funding and mentorship to create films, that they will in turn go off and mentor other people,” she said.
“So we’ve started a pay-it-forward process.”
The 2026 edition of Claim the Frame brought together four creative pairs, each exploring a different subject through documentary filmmaking.
Filmmakers Ishma Areeb and Javaria Waseem, from Lahore, tell the story of Anum Shakoor, a woman who found strength and healing through horses before entering the predominantly male world of tent pegging.
The second pair, Karachi-based Aleezeh Fatima and Aisha Manzoor, explore the relationship between climate change, poverty and child marriage in rural Sindh. Their film examines how environmental and economic pressures intersect with the lives of vulnerable communities.
Kinza Waqar and Jazaba, working between Bahawalpur and Lahore, turn their attention to the Cholistan Desert. Their documentary follows Bakht Ali, using his life, artistic practice and relationship with the desert to portray resilience and the traditions rooted in the region.
Kinza waqar said “Naturally, I had to face several challenges as a woman behind the camera. At one point, there was no way to cross over except on foot. So, we carried the camera and tripod on our shoulders and walked until we reached the location.
When we got there, we realised that the island had its own set of challenges. There were insects biting our feet and getting stuck to our skin, and we had to squeeze them out and remove them. All this was happening while the camera was rolling, and I had to keep filming despite the difficulties.”
Laila Jamil, Arts Director at the British Council Pakistan, said the value of Claim the Frame extended beyond the films themselves to questions of representation and whose perspectives were given space.
“Pakistan has no shortage of talent or stories worth sharing; what matters is creating the space, support and opportunities for more voices to be heard,” she said.
Jamil added that the partnership between Patakha Pictures, the Scottish Documentary Institute and the British Council was helping women filmmakers shape narratives that reflected the diversity of their experiences and the world around them.
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