Daily Times

Swipe, an animated short film directed by Arafat Mazhar, has become the first Pakistani film to feature at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2021.

“After a day of imposter syndrome seeing my name alongside Oscar-winning and -nominated directors it has finally sunk in,” Arafat said.

Swipe tells the story of a boy who is addicted to iFatwa, an app that crowdsources religious death sentences. He spends most of his time swiping on the lives of strangers as the app allows users to vote in favour of or against persons whose cases are submitted. Those with 10,000 swipe rights are sentenced to death publicly. The film examines extremism resulting from excessive accessibility to technology.

‘Swipe’ tells the story of a boy who is addicted to iFatwa, an app that crowdsources religious death sentences

Swipe was released in November 2020. It will be featured in Perspectives Short Films competition. The festival will open June 14 and conclude on June 19. It is held every year in France. Swipe has been selected by Animafest Zagreb as well, another animated film festival in Croatia.

A number of Pakistani films and documentaries have bagged international awards. Last week, Shehzad Hameed Ahmad’s Pakistan’s Himalayan Meltdown won the Green Image award in Japan. Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha has won the Kim Ji-Seok, Busan International Film and two Snow Leopards Awards for Best Film.