Each and every person in entertainment/showbiz industry dreams of the day when they’ll make a mark on Oscar. While others are dreaming a young Pakistani filmmaker Shahnawaz Zali made his way to outshine. His film “100 Steps-sau Qadam” was nominated as the Best Film in the narrative category for the 43rd student academy awards.
Forbes is a huge American business magazine which mainly focuses on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership and lifestyle and thy name says it all. Being on the list of Forbes is a sure win and Shahnawaz Zali is there. His name is included in the list of people from sports and entertainment “30 under 30”. The entertainment and sports judges were Sharmeen chinoy, Sonny Bill Williams, Yuna and Mallika kapur.
What an inspiring achievement!
Two times Oscar winner Sharmeen Chinoy also personally congratulated him on his outstanding accomplishment.
Who is Shahnawaz Zali? He is that inspiring young flair of our land who graduated from Northwestern University- School of communication with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Media industries and Technologies and certificate of public relations.
The film he made back in 2015 is all about a young boy who was dragged into suicide bombings. This film bagged the awards at the Miami International Film Festival, Qatar media Awards and the Accolade Global Film festival. Not only that his previous film Muhammad also won Best Film award at the Qatar Media Awards 2014.
Shahnawaz told the media persons “As a story-teller I wanted to create a film, which was a psychological thriller that ultimately helps defeat the stereotypical role of Pakistani’s portrayed in the media all over the globe. My university gave me an $8,000 grand to turn my idea into reality. With a group of friends, we set up a crew and began filming.”
“I chose this subject because these things exist and it’s happening all around us. I believe that for a nation to progress, we must first acknowledge and accept the fact that there is a problem. Once the problem is identified, we can then all work toward solving it.”
He added, “It’s a film about innocence and bravery, hopelessly entwined in the protagonist, who is brainwashed into doing things he didn’t want to do. The goal was to correct the misconception of how the world views Pakistan and its people. We’re a valiant nation, with a lot of stories, and this is just a small one.”
“I want to remove this barrier that limits young Pakistanis to create high-quality production. I have personally met with a lot of aspiring Pakistani filmmakers in the last few weeks and I plan on meeting more as I want to create this culture here where everyone can just walk in and share their ideas and be a part of our team. I would welcome anyone who wants to create content to join me and work toward taking Pakistan forward with its stories,” reveals this optimistic 23-year-old boy.
He has given entertainment a new meaning and lesson for others that this medium can be used for way greater purpose.
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