After London and West Virginia, Innocent Dreams makes it to Cologne

After the success of his thought-provoking documentaries such as Running Water and Back to Life, film-maker Ali Ahmed Brohi’s short film Innocent Dreams has been selected for screening at the 8th Cologne International Videoart Festival in Germany, an event that is scheduled for September this year.

The theme of this festival focuses on human rights, and Innocent Dreams depicts that perfectly. Produced in August 2011, the film continues to receive international appreciation.

Innocent Dreams is a short 60-second film which narrates the story of a little girl from a small village in Pakistan who has an innocent dream — to attend school with her brother. The film centres around the reality of girls from rural Pakistan who are victims of discrimination and social injustice, and makes one wonder: will this girl’s dream come true or will she end up conforming to her predefined fate?

Speaking to The Express Tribune about what inspired him to produce this powerful film, Brohi said: “The typical rigid mindsets and mentalities that make the lives of these girls [from rural areas] quite difficult, burdening them with housework and obligations.” He then added that feudalism and patriarchy make a girl’s life even more difficult, making this concern more significant.

“Education is everyone’s fundamental right — whether it’s a boy or a girl,” Brohi remarked. “I think this issue needs to be a point of focus right now, specifically in rural areas — not just to improve access but address the barriers to education.” He feels that through this film, this grave issue might receive the attention it requires.

Out of the several categories at the Cologne festival, Innocent Dreams has been selected in the “1#minuteCOLOGNE” category, where all films are 60 seconds long. 

Film-makers from across the world sent their entries and only 40 films were shortlisted for screening at venues based in Hungary, Greece, Sweden, Poland, Bosnia, Mexico and Argentina starting from September up until December.

This film has also been screened at the Encounters International Film Festival in London and at the West Virginia Short Film Festival in USA last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2012.