The first Pakistan International Film Festival (PiFF) kicked off in Karachi on Friday. Day one featured acclaimed actor and director Nandita Das with screen writer Anjum Rajabali, Sajal Ali, musician Harsh Narayan, Asim Raza and Asif Noorani for a session titled ‘Collaborations across borders: Possibilities and Future Directors’. The other session titled ‘Innovation on Screen: Digital Dimensions’ featured Abrar Ali Khan of Rockville, Farees Shah of iflix with Tazeen Hussain as the moderator. Along with screenings of documentaries, premier of ‘Cake’ was held at Nueplex cinema as a part of the festival. Day one was well attended by media personalities and members of the film and entertainment industry. This festival comprises panel discussions on the subjects of ‘Film Diplomacy and Cross Border Collaboration’, ‘Innovation on Screen: Digital Dimensions’, ‘Genre Busters’, ‘From Script to Screen and Beyond’, ‘Films for Change: Socially Motivated content in South Asian Film Industry’ and ‘The Future of Music and Lyrics: How important is music in the subcontinental cinema’. The participant lineup is diverse and includes prominent local and foreign speakers Sultana Siddiqui, Asim Raza, Anjum Rajabali (celebrated Indian script/screenplay writer), Nandita Das (actor/director/producer of upcoming Indian movie Manto), Harsh Narayan (Indian filmmaker), Sajal Ali, Rashid Khwaja, Abrar Ali Khan, Farees Shah, Faizan Syed, Adnan Sarwar, Sana Tauseef, Atiqa Odho to name a few. Day two of the event will feature director of ‘Baahubali’ SS Rajamouli, Adnan Sarwar, Atiqa Odho, director of Hindi medium Saket Chawdhari. A special matinee show of the newly released animated movie ‘Tick Tock’ will also be arranged for children at Nueplex Cinemas. Apart from the premieres, screenings of short films, documentaries and feature films are organised at various institutes throughout the city including Goethe Institute, Iqra Defence Valley, Iqra University North Nazimabad campus, Alliance Françoise and T2F. The four-day event is supported by the Cultural Department of Sindh government and federal information ministry. Published in Daily Times, March 31st 2018.