British Council, in collaboration with Bird’s Eye View Film Festival, London, hosted an international delegate programme for women filmmakers. For Pakistani women filmmakers, this exclusive programme provided an opportunity to meet with UK producers, attend sessions on how to finance an independent film, curate their own film marketing campaigns, improve business skills, meet and network with peers, and most of all, be creatively inspired.
The Pakistan delegation included Meenu Gaur, Iram Parveen Bilal, Kanwal Khoosat and Aisha Gazdar.
Reflecting on the experience, Iram Parveen Bilal wrote on her blog: “Programs such as these are essential to create a sense of community for female filmmakers who are often alone and marginalized in some of the world’s still very patriarchal systems of film funding and distribution. Having the sense of not being alone, is key to moving forward and carefully building one’s confidence. Thanks British Council and Birds Eye View for helping us see the bigger picture and reinforce ideas we independently have encountered and intrinsically have experienced. Here’s to a lifetime of connections and collaboration!”