Karachi(Cliff News)The Gandhara Independent Film Festival (GIFF), Edition 7 ended celebrating the stars of Pakistan’s indie cinema at the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) with official selections’ special presentations of six international and four Pakistani short films.
The festival’s third day opened with the Pakistani film How to Kill Your Hunger? by Mehroz Amin followed by a Syrian documentary Who Love the Sun by Arshia Shakiba, Buffalo by Cristian Fidel from Spain, Ningu Borda (Nobody Barks) by Julia Coldwell Serra from Spain and Legacy of the Sun and Moon by Kiyun Gabriel Sung from South Korea. An animated French-Canadian short film What We Leave Behind by Jean-Sebastien Hamel and Alexandra Myotte truly captured the audience. Paradise Height by Karl Kai and Robert Mentov, short film from Hong Kong and Canada explored the unique telepathic bond between a daughter and her dead mother.
A Chef’s Wish – The After, an emotional documentary by Umar Riaz on Chef Fatima, a deceased chef from Karachi Pakistan who gained popularity internationally and died fighting cancer was screened along with Permanent Guest by Sana Zahra Jafri and Khazana by Basir Ahmed were screened, followed by insightful Q/A sessions with the cast and crew.
In the Foreign Feature Films Category, The Father by Pavel Ivanov won the Best Film and Best Director Awards, Salmon by Oscar Faarup won the Best Screenplay, and The Key by Paul Sportiello won the Best Editing Award.
In the Foreign Short Films Category, Brute by Jeremy Comte won the Best Film and Best Director Award, Legacy of the Sun and Moon by Kiyun Gabriel Sung won the Best Screenplay, Petticoats by Gaelle Graton won the Best Production Design Award, Yo Yo by Mohammadreza Mayghani won the Best Costume Design Award, Jazz Infernal by Will Niava won the best Sound Design Award and My Plastic Mother by Amar Haikal won the Best Editing Award.
In the Fiction Films competing category for Pakistan, Khazana by Basir Ahmed won the Best Director, Best Sound Design and Best Production Design Awards. Permanent Guest by Sana Zahra Jafri won the Best Film, Best Costume Design and the Best Editing Awards. Attock by Awais Gohar won the Best Cinematography Award. How to Kill Your Hunger? by Mehroz Amin won the Best Screenplay Award.
In the Documentary Films competing category for Pakistan, W.R.A.P. – We Really Are Pakistan! by Saba Karim Khan won the Best Film Award. The After: A Chef’s Wish by Umar Riaz won the Best Director Award. Body by Husain Qaizar and Saad Zuberi won the Best Cinematography Award.
Desi Fiction by Rayyan Shahid won the Best Emerging Talent Award, Raat Jaagay by Mahnoor Nawab won the Best Showcase Award, Red Samosay by Saif Malick won the Best Cinematic Award. Blender by Syed Nabil Hasan Rizvi, A Shadow Left Behind by Aun ul Haider, To Bury a Bird by Zargham Ali Khokhar, Tarair by Mohsin Asghar and Chaand Pay Charkha Kaat’ti Bhudiya by Yaseen Khatri won the GIFF Appreciation Award. Adnan ShahTipu for his role in How to Kill Your Hunger? Mehroz Amin won the Best Actor Award (Male), Rasti Farooq for her character Fatin in Permanent Guest by Sana Zahra Jafri won the Best Actor (Female) Award.
Volunteers of GIFF 2026, students of its Educational Partner for this year Karachi Film School (KFS) were also given official certificates after the awards ceremony. This year GIFF received around six thousand films from all over the world including Pakistan, out of which, sixty films (seven foreign-language feature films, twenty-five foreign language shorts films and twenty-eight Pakistani short films) were selected for the digital edition, which streamed online at the ARY Plus OTT and GIFF’s website from September 18 till 30. There are twenty-eight selected independent films screening at NAPA for the on-ground edition 7; nineteen amongst them are foreign-language short films and nine of them are Pakistani independent films.
GIFF is a Cirque Films initiative, its 2026 esteemed sponsors are UBL, Candi Biscuit, Candyland, Olper’s Diary Tea Creamer and Vatika. Official Industry Partners are Epic Pictures, Sharp Image, Hot Water Bottle Films, Bionic Films, Tallman Films, Y Productions and What’s Next. KFS is the official Educational Partner, NAPA is Venue Partner, Talking Point is PR Partner, See Prime is Strategic Partner and ARY Plus OTT is official Streaming Partner for GIFF 2026.
