The short film, titled Stray Dogs Come Out at Night, will be screened at two Oscar-qualifying film festivals and more, next month.
Filmmaker, writer and theatre practitioner Hamza Bangash, who has award-winning short films like Dia to his credit, seems to be on a roll. Earlier this month, Bangash’s latest short film, titled Stray Dogs Come Out at Night, became the first Pakistani film to have its world premiere at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2020. Recently the young filmmaker announced the short’s upcoming festival tour, which includes two Oscar-qualifying film festivals - Tampere Film Festival, Finland and Regard International Film Festival, Canada – in March. Apart from these two fests, the tour will also see the film traveling to United Kingdom and Switzerland.
Hamza Bangash took to social media to announce the news. “I am so excited to announce that following the world premiere at Clermont-Ferrand, we are headed to two more Oscar-qualifying film festivals, 1 that is the festival favourite of Parasite director Bong Joon Ho, and finally one that will have our film playing at BFI-Southbank,” he wrote on his official Instagram handle.
According to a post on CityLights Media Production’s official website, the Tampere Film Festival, Finland, is considered to be one of the top three short film festivals in the world. “Stray Dogs will be playing in international competition from March 4th-8th, 2020. Producer, Mina Husain will be in attendance,” noted the website.
After Finland, the short will be playing from March 11 to March 15, 2020, at the Regard International Film Festival in Canada, which is considered one of the most important short film festivals in North America.
This will be followed by its screening from March 18 to 29 at the BFI Flare Film Festival, London.
Finally, Stray Dogs will end the March tour with the Fribourg International Film Festival (FIFF), Switzerland, which is scheduled to take place from March 20 till March 28, 2020.
The 11-minute long short film features Mohammad Ali Hashmi and Adnan Shah Tipu in key roles. It revolves around “the life of Iqbal, a maalish wala (masseur) by profession, who cannot come to terms with his illness. He convinces his uncle (essayed by Adnan Shah Tipu) to take a day trip to the beach, desperate for respite.”
Besides being screened at international film festivals, the short film is expected to have its Pakistan premiere in Karachi in June.
