Pakistani filmmakers win acclaim at international film festivals

Pakistani filmmakers Sheryar Ali and Suhail Ahmed gained international recognition after their latest short films, A Door to My Memory and Toxicity, both premiered at prestigious international film festivals to widespread acclaim.

A Door to My Memory, a Punjabi sci-fi, recently had its world premiere at the Tasveer Film Festival in Seattle, Washington — the world’s only Oscar-qualifying South Asian film festival. The film received high praise for its originality and emotional depth.

Set in a dystopian world where human memories are stored on external drives, the story follows Ashfaq, a 65-year-old man who struggles to preserve fragments of his past as he runs out of memory space — a poignant metaphor for love, loss, and the fragile nature of human connection.

Following its success in the United States, A Door to My Memory has been officially selected at several film festivals, where it currently stands as a semi-finalist.

Meanwhile, the duo’s second short film, Toxicity, continues to win international recognition. The film had its world premiere at the Festival Internazionale Nebrodi Cinema Doc in Sicily, Italy.

A commentary on the smog crisis, Toxicity follows two young entrepreneurs who risk everything to prove that clean energy can save lives as pollution chokes.

The film was the only Pakistani entry selected at the Sicilian festival, where it was nominated for Best Narrative Short and earned a “Menzione d’Onore” (Honourable Mention) from the jury.

Buoyed by international acclaim, the filmmakers plan to bring both projects to audiences in Pakistan soon through local screenings and festivals.