The Kalash of the Hindu Kush

Outlawed in Pakistan

January 2013 •English

Outlawed in Pakistan tells the story of Kainat Soomro as she takes her rape case to Pakistan's deeply flawed court system in hopes of getting justice. The 13-year-old Kainat accuses four men of gang rape and shortly after is ordered to be killed by her village elders. Spanning over five years, the story is told through the perspective of Kainat and the four men accused of her rape.

How I Like It

October 2021 •Urdu

In Pakistan, the public space is dominated by men. The confidence with which they walk the streets or weight train quickly disappears once they are confronted with female sexuality. Off-screen, several anonymous women talk about their sexuality. The images of the conventional partiarchal society are in sharp contrast to the liberating explicitness of the accounts of clit stimulation, sex with multiple partners, pissing, abortions, and rape.

K2, Traum und Schicksal

January 2013 •German

Documentary about K2 tragedy of 1986. On August 4, 1986, Diemberger and Julie Tullis reached the summit of K2 very late in the day. Shortly after starting their descent, Tullis fell and dragged Diemberger down with her. Fortunately, they somehow stopped from going over the edge and spent the night above 8,000 metres. They managed to reach Camp IV the next day, where they were forced to share a tent with six other climbers after their tent had collapsed from hurricane force winds. Tullis died later that night, possibly from high altitude cerebral edema (HACE), and only one other climber, Austrian Willi Bauer, survived the descent with Diemberger. Both climbers suffered severe frostbite during the descent and had to have amputations.

Displaced Perssons

August 2013 •Swedish

Per Persson left Sweden 40 years ago. In Pakistan he fell in love and became the father of two daughters. Trouble starts when the girls grow up and the family decides to emigrate to Sweden. When they end up living in a caravan outside Hässleholm, all their expectations are dashed.

Drone

April 2014 •English

DRONE is a documentary about the covert CIA drone war. Through voices on both sides of this new technology, DRONE reveals crucial information about the drone war in Pakistan and offers unique insights into the nature of drone warfare.

How Gay Is Pakistan?

October 2015 •English

A documentary which explores the lives of gay people and the challenges they face in Pakistan, a country whose laws explicitly outlaw homosexuality.

Sadpara The Mountaineer

December 2021 •Urdu

The Pigeons of Lahore

March 2024 •Urdu

The parallel stories of four Pakistani immigrants in Greece become the trigger for the director to explore the story of his father, a worker in the Perama Shipyard. The background unfolds a most deadly shipwreck, Libyan immigrants found in limbo, as well as a (possibly racist) crime, which was committed during the shooting of this film.

In the Shadow of Karakorum

August 1955 •German

In 1954, a German-Austrian expedition led by Mathias Rebitsch set off for the difficult-to-access Karakoram Mountains, geographically north of the Himalayas. They come across the Hunza, a people who live in the valley of the same name and believe they are descended from the soldiers of Alexander the Great. The documentary conveys impressions of the poor life of the Hunza people, the harvest, a court hearing, festivals and the children's everyday school life. Finally, the expedition sets off again and sets up its main camp on the moraine ridge of a glacier, where they measure the glacier and the earth's magnetic field. Finally, some men from the research community set off for a sub-peak of Batura.

Amir: An Afghan Refugee Musician's Life in Peshawar, Pakistan

January 1985 •English

Amir, shot during the height of the Afghan civil war in the 1980s, investigates and portrays the life of Afghan refugees living in and around the city of Peshawar in northern Pakistan through the experiences of the musician Amir. The aspirations of Afghan refugees are expressed through their political songs dealing with the civil war in Afghanistan, with exile, with Afghan nationalism and with the Islamic revolution. In highly charged and tragic circumstances, music can be used in very direct ways, both to promote solidarity and as an agent of catharsis.

Saving Face

March 2012 •English

Every year hundreds of people - mostly women - are attacked with acid in Pakistan. Follow several of these survivors, their fight for justice, and a Pakistani plastic surgeon who has returned to his homeland to help them restore their faces and their lives.

When Cousins Marry

August 2010 •English

Looking at the consequences of first cousin marriage in Britain.

Behind Closed Doors

May 2023 •English

Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) are people who hold a public function and as a result, present higher risks of being involved in bribery or corruption. Offshore leaks have revealed repeatedly that PEPs use British finance and British offshore jurisdictions to launder their wealth, hide their wealth and re-invest it into the global financial system. London is the place where they buy property, where they take legal action against their critics and where they live when they fall from grace. But what happens when a developing country fights back and attempts to get Britain to return the money that it claims has been stolen? Watch Behind Closed Doors and find out.

Bhutto: Daughter of Power

November 2005 •German

Touted as a symbol of modernity and democracy, Benazir Bhutto became synonymous with corruption and bad governance. In this unique film, Bhutto speaks frankly about the paradoxes of her life. Mixing private archive with insights from friends and family, this is the definitive documentary on the Bhutto dynasty.

Mazar Sharif

September 2015 •Persian

An Iranian diplomat who miraculously survived Taliban's raid on the Iranian consulate in Mazar E Sharif (Afghanistan) narrates his 19 days of hide and escape to reach Iran's borders meanwhile on the other side, the Iranian troops are preparing for retaliation.

Seven Days in Summer: Countdown to Partition

January 2017 •English

Today India and Pakistan are home to one fifth of the world's population. They are rising powers but hostile neighbours. Their enmity can be traced back to the week of their birth, 70 years ago. On 15 August 1947, Britain would give up the Indian Empire, partitioning it in into two independent countries, India and Pakistan. This film tells the story of the seven days that led up to their independence and the last days of the British Raj.

Witness Special - Inside the Red Mosque

August 2007 •English

In the days leading up to the storming of the Red Mosque, Al Jazeera's Rageh Omaar gained exclusive access. He and his team were the last TV crew inside the mosque before the siege began and filmed the last interview with Abdul Rashid Ghazi, one of the mosque's leaders, before his death.

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

October 2015 •Panjabi

A woman in Pakistan sentenced to death for falling in love becomes a rare survivor of the country's harsh judicial system.

Indus Blues

August 2018 •Urdu

Pakistani folk artists talk about their struggle to keep a fading art form alive while reminding the world what they are about to lose.

Das Rätsel der Gefälschten Mumie

October 2014 •German