Daily Times

Pakistani movie ‘Punjab Nahi Jaongi’ won ‘Jury Special Award’ at the closing ceremony of the first Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Film Festival in China’s Qingdao province.

The ceremony was held on Sunday and attended by actors and directors. Trophies and certificates in the categories of Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenwriter and Jury Special Award were awarded by the jury members.

Pakistani movie ‘Punjab Nahi Jaongi’ was awarded the Jury Special Award while Ms Sultana Siddiqui, jury member from Pakistan, awarded the best picture award to two movies from Afghanistan and China.

The five-day film gala opened on June 13 and showcased 55 films from the SCO member and observer states, with 200 delegates in attendance.

The film festival provided a platform for collaboration between the SCO fraternity with events like ‘Film Market’ where 12 booths were set up and 26 organizations shared their movies and advanced film technologies.

The ‘Film Cooperation Forum’ was attended by heads of delegations and included Panel Discussions on topics of mutual interest. The movie ‘Chalay Thay Saath’ represented Pakistan in the In Focus Program. Ambreen Jan, head of the Pakistani delegation, Li Guoqi, Deputy Administrator of China Film Administration and Cao Yin, President of China Movie Channels were also present on the occasion.

Cultural performances representing the SCO member states enthralled the audience and garnered media attention with the ceremony being shown live on CCTV 6. The event concluded with a mesmerising firework display.

Published in Daily Times, June 20^th 2018.