In Flames / Film School radio interview with Director Zarrar Kahn

KUCI: Film School

Zarrar Kahn’s feature film debut focuses on the lives of Mariam (Ramesha Nawal), her younger brother Bilal (Jibran Khan) and their mother, Fariha (Bakhtawar Mazhar) in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan, where women’s property rights are fragile. Mariam’s mother, grieving and isolated, is easy to influence. Mariam, distraught by her mother’s foolishness, finds solace in a secret romance with a fellow student, Asad. When their relationship takes an unexpected turn, Mariam becomes consumed by nightmares. Meanwhile, her mother, caught between her coercive Uncle and a murky legal system, is oblivious to her daughter’s deteriorating mental state. Mariam’s nightmares begin to bleed into reality. Mother and daughter must come together if they hope to overcome the real and phantasmal forces that threaten to engulf them. Director and writer Zarrar Kahn joins us for a conversation the inspiration for this layered and multi-genre film, assembling a superb cast of veteran and new actors, the systemic bias and barriers that women struggle to navigate in Pakistani society and the joy of being picked to represent Pakistan for the 2024 Academy Awards© in the Best International Feature Film category. For more go to: gametheoryfilms.com/in-flames