ISLAMABAD: Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq’s said on Saturday it was by “luck or something” that his film ‘Darling’ has landed a world premiere at the 86th Venice Film Festival this year, making it the first Pakistani film in history to get a “big three” screening.
The big three refers to the largest and most prestigious film festivals in the world in Berlin, Cannes and Venice, which is the oldest of the three.
But Sadiq, 28, whose masterpiece addresses taboo questions of gender in the Muslim majority country of 208 million people, said he had no idea his film would be accepted.
“I sent it in during the open submission call with zero expectations that it would be chosen,” Sadiq told Arab News on Saturday by telephone. “Through luck or something, we got in.”
Darling, set in a dance theater in Pakistan’s romantic, eastern city of Lahore, follows the story of a young boy named Shani, played by Abdullah Malik, and a transgender girl named Alina, played by Alina Khan, a trans female actor. This is Khan’s first ever on-screen role.
“The film follows the journey of these two people, exploring their relationship, questions of identity, and dance,” Sadiq said.
With a total run time of 16 minutes, Darling will show in the film festival’s new Orizzonti section, a competition of short films submitted from around the world. It is the micro version of Sadiq’s upcoming feature-length film “Gulabi,” which is currently in the funding stages of production.
After studying anthropology at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore, Sadiq said he decided to follow his passion for film, and went on to graduate in film studies from New York’s prestigious Columbia University.
His decision to pursue film-making came as a shock for his “very normal, very conservative” Pakistani family, he said, which follows a long line of traditional army careers.
“I remember when I told my parents about wanting to be a filmmaker, it was shocking for them,” Sadiq said. “Nobody does film especially from the family background I come from... so there was a big departure, a big leap of faith.”
“Nice Talking to You,” a 2018 short film by Sadiq, was an official selection at South by Southwest this year and Palm Springs International Shortfest 2019. Last year, he won Vimeo’s Best Director award at the Columbia University Film Festival.
“I was born and brought up (in Pakistan), and I am completely infatuated with our country,” Sadiq said. “I don’t want to portray Pakistan in a bad way or a good way... just trying to show a true image of Pakistan which is a mix of everything.”
In the future, Sadiq said he hopes to tell more Pakistani stories in a still fledgling industry.
“I think the industry is so new it can be an almost childlike space where we are deciding what to make of it,” he said. “Films do not have to be particularly mainstream or very commercial. Small indie or art-house films have a market and an audience.”
“The premiere and the honor of showing our film at the Venice Film Festival gives me hope that people who are trying to do something different can see it pay off,” he said.
This year’s Venice Film Festival will run from August 28 to September 7.
‘Through luck or something,’ Pakistani film lands Venice Film Festival premiere
‘Through luck or something,’ Pakistani film lands Venice Film Festival premiere
- Darling is the first Pakistani film ever to get a screening at one of the world’s ‘big three’ film festivals
- This year’s Venice Film Festival will run from August 28 to September 7
Pakistan’s OGDC ramps up unconventional gas plans
- Pakistan has long been viewed as having potential in tight and shale gas but commercial output has yet to be proved
- OGDC says has tripled tight-gas study area to 4,500 square km after new seismic, reservoir analysis indicates potential
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state-run Oil & Gas Development Company is planning a major expansion of unconventional gas developments from early next year, aiming to boost production and reduce reliance on imported liquefied natural gas.
Pakistan has long been viewed as having potential in both tight and shale gas, which are trapped in rock and can only be released with specialized drilling, but commercial output has yet to be proved.
Managing Director Ahmed Lak told Reuters that OGDC had tripled its tight-gas study area to 4,500 square kilometers (1,737 square miles) after new seismic and reservoir analysis indicated larger potential. Phase two of a technical evaluation will finish by end-January, followed by full development plans.
The renewed push comes after US President Donald Trump said Pakistan held “massive” oil reserves in July, a statement analysts said lacked credible geological evidence, but which prompted Islamabad to underscore that it is pursuing its own efforts to unlock unconventional resources.
“We started with 85 wells, but the footprint has expanded massively,” Lak said, adding that OGDC’s next five-year plan would look “drastically different.”
Early results point to a “significant” resource across parts of Sindh and Balochistan, where multiple reservoirs show tight-gas characteristics, he said.
SHALE PILOT RAMPS UP
OGDC is also fast-tracking its shale program, shifting from a single test well to a five- to six-well plan in 2026–27, with expected flows of 3–4 million standard cubic feet per day (mmcfd) per well.
If successful, the development could scale to hundreds or even more than 1,000 wells, Lak said.
He said shale alone could eventually add 600 mmcfd to 1 billion standard cubic feet per day of incremental supply, though partners would be needed if the pilot proves viable.
The company is open to partners “on a reciprocal basis,” potentially exchanging acreage abroad for participation in Pakistan, he said.
A 2015 US Energy Information Administration study estimated Pakistan had 9.1 billion barrels of technically recoverable shale oil, the largest such resource outside China and the United States.
A 2022 assessment found parts of the Indus Basin geologically comparable to North American shale plays, though analysts say commercial viability still hinges on better geomechanical data, expanded fracking capacity and water availability.
OGDC plans to begin drilling a deep-water offshore well in the Indus Basin, known as the Deepal prospect, in the fourth quarter of 2026, Lak said. In October, Turkiye’s TPAO with PPL and its consortium partners, including OGDC, were awarded a block for offshore exploration.
A combination of weak gas demand, rising solar uptake and a rigid LNG import schedule has created a surplus of gas that forced OGDC to curb output and pushed Pakistan to divert cargoes from Italy’s ENI and seek revised terms with Qatar.
