Bo Kata

Longing(hi)

Against the backdrop of Partition, independent India’s first hockey team defeats England, their erstwhile coloniser, to win the Gold at the 1948 London Olympics. Six decades later, when Nandy Singh, a member of this iconic team suffers a stroke, his tenacious struggle to recover, inspires his daughter to retrace his journey. Using archival footage and interviews with teammates, she reveals lives shaped by the Gold, and by Partition that made them refugees. Revealed also is a friend in Pakistan never spoken of before. Her journey in search of him morphs into a quest for the lost ‘watan’ (homeland).

Allah Loves Equality(en)

This documentary film aims to highlight the current situation of LGBT people living in Pakistan.

I am Agha(en)

Lahore, Pakistan. During a whole day, we follow Agha, a little boy who, to survive, collects waste in the street without caring about the world which surrounds him. He makes us share his moods and his vision of the life.

In the Shadow of Karakorum(de)

In 1954, a German-Austrian expedition led by Mathias Rebitsch set off for the difficult-to-access Karakoram Mountains, geographically north of the Himalayas. They come across the Hunza, a people who live in the valley of the same name and believe they are descended from the soldiers of Alexander the Great. The documentary conveys impressions of the poor life of the Hunza people, the harvest, a court hearing, festivals and the children's everyday school life. Finally, the expedition sets off again and sets up its main camp on the moraine ridge of a glacier, where they measure the glacier and the earth's magnetic field. Finally, some men from the research community set off for a sub-peak of Batura.

Showgirls of Pakistan(ur)

Enter the universe of three mujra dancers in Pakistan as they dodge state censorship and violence to vie for stardom.

A Calling to Care(en)

A Calling to Care is the inspiring story of 55 year-old Grace Stanley, a Canadian nurse who left her home and prestigious career behind to answer a calling halfway around the world in Karachi, Pakistan. Teaching nursing to local women in a strict Muslim culture that forbids them to even to touch men is a formidable task. However, Grace challenges her own values and belief systems to find common ground with her students, helping them to excel and feel respect for themselves in a culture that doesn't respect them. Whether it is getting her hands painted with henna, swimming fully-clothed in the ocean, or marching bravely with them on International Women's Day, Grace bonds with her students in a very special way, and ultimately discovers how the West can learn a lot more from the Third World than she ever thought.

Apö Karim, Ambassadeur de l'Himalaya(fr)

Mister Karim(fr)

Displaced Perssons(sv)

Per Persson left Sweden 40 years ago. In Pakistan he fell in love and became the father of two daughters. Trouble starts when the girls grow up and the family decides to emigrate to Sweden. When they end up living in a caravan outside Hässleholm, all their expectations are dashed.

Silent Veil(en)

In Pakistan, veils hide one of the country's most terrible secrets. Driven by revenge, jealousy or sexual non-co-operation some men subject their wives to horrific attacks with acid that is freely available in the street. Completely disfigured, the victims are often ostracized by their families and become prisoners in their own home. This chilling documentary is a terrifying insight into the shattered lives of these women.

Snow Leopard: Beyond the Myth(en)

BBC The Natural World. In 2004, a team from the Planet Earth series captured the first ever film of a wild snow leopard in the mountains of Pakistan. For Nisar Malik, who led the expedition, these images sparked a passion that compelled him to return. With cameraman Mark Smith, he spent two years documenting the snow leopard's daily life, finally lifting the veil on the most elusive of all cats.

A Cry From The Mountains(en)

Last May record temperatures provoked a GLOF or glacial lake outburst flood in northern Pakistan, sweeping away bridges and villages in the valley below the Shisper glacier. Higher up the mountains, a semi-nomadic people called the Wakhi were leading their yaks to summer pastures 15,500 feet above in the mountains. Their traditional lifestyle has also been heavily impacted by climate change. From the K2 and the Himalayas, we profile the scientists,mountain climbers, and the villagers on this global warming frontline.

K2, Traum und Schicksal(de)

Documentary about K2 tragedy of 1986. On August 4, 1986, Diemberger and Julie Tullis reached the summit of K2 very late in the day. Shortly after starting their descent, Tullis fell and dragged Diemberger down with her. Fortunately, they somehow stopped from going over the edge and spent the night above 8,000 metres. They managed to reach Camp IV the next day, where they were forced to share a tent with six other climbers after their tent had collapsed from hurricane force winds. Tullis died later that night, possibly from high altitude cerebral edema (HACE), and only one other climber, Austrian Willi Bauer, survived the descent with Diemberger. Both climbers suffered severe frostbite during the descent and had to have amputations.

Valparaiso(fr)

In 1962 Joris Ivens was invited to Chile for teaching and filmmaking. Together with students he made …A Valparaíso, one of his most poetic films. Contrasting the prestigious history of the seaport with the present the film sketches a portrait of the city, built on 42 hills, with its wealth and poverty, its daily life on the streets, the stairs, the rack railways and in the bars. Although the port has lost its importance, the rich past is still present in the impoverished city. The film echoes this ambiguous situation in its dialectical poetic style, interweaving the daily life reality (of 1963) with the history of the city and changing from black and white to colour, finally leaving us with hopeful perspective for the children who are playing on the stairs and hills of this beautiful town.

Bhutto: Daughter of Power(de)

Touted as a symbol of modernity and democracy, Benazir Bhutto became synonymous with corruption and bad governance. In this unique film, Bhutto speaks frankly about the paradoxes of her life. Mixing private archive with insights from friends and family, this is the definitive documentary on the Bhutto dynasty.

The Quetta Earthquake(en)

Amateur footage of the devastation caused by one of South Asia's worst earthquakes.

Lahore - Refugees from India(en)

Millions of Muslims flee to Lahore in the newly created state of Pakistan, prompted by the partition of British India.

Saving Face(en)

Every year hundreds of people - mostly women - are attacked with acid in Pakistan. Follow several of these survivors, their fight for justice, and a Pakistani plastic surgeon who has returned to his homeland to help them restore their faces and their lives.

Big water theory(fr)

Amir: An Afghan Refugee Musician's Life in Peshawar, Pakistan(en)

Amir, shot during the height of the Afghan civil war in the 1980s, investigates and portrays the life of Afghan refugees living in and around the city of Peshawar in northern Pakistan through the experiences of the musician Amir. The aspirations of Afghan refugees are expressed through their political songs dealing with the civil war in Afghanistan, with exile, with Afghan nationalism and with the Islamic revolution. In highly charged and tragic circumstances, music can be used in very direct ways, both to promote solidarity and as an agent of catharsis.