Daily Times

Student Oscar nominee Shahnawaz Zali, whose film ‘Sau Qadam’ (100 Steps) was selected as a contestant in the 43rd Student Academy Awards, has now another feather to add to his cap, as Forbes has included his name in its ’30 Under 30′ list of people from sports and entertainment.

A graduate of Northwestern University, Zali hails from Lahore. His documentary, which was nominated in the ‘narrative’ category in 2016, focuses on the life of a confused 13-year-old boy who “learns that his school is a front for a radical Islamist recruitment camp”, a summary on IMDB reads.

The young director has emerged victorious in many other events, such as the Miami Independent Film Festival and Accolade Global Film Festival. His other directorial project is ‘Muhammad’, while he was involved in ‘Backyard’ and ‘Kashif – The Lifting of the Veil’ as a producer and an actor, respectively.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy – Pakistan’s two-time Oscar winner – herself publicly congratulated him for his nomination. She was also one of the judges at the Student Oscars last year.

Earlier, while speaking to a local media outlet, Zali had shown great ambition in contributing towards the local arts and entertainment space, saying, “I’m aiming to work on feature films, commercials, and television next. I also plan on opening a production house soon that will always have its doors open to anyone who wishes to discuss ideas, scripts or their work.” Featured alongside Zali are actresses Alia Bhatt and Margot Robbie as well as singer Lorde and Troye Sivan.