Stanza Arts

By Staff Reporter, *Documentaries on Sufi poets screened at PNCA* - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan; Friday, January 21, 2011

Islamabad: With the objective to promote interfaith harmony, tolerance and spreading Pakistan’s soft image across the globe, Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) on Thursday launched three documentaries on Sufi poets Mian Muhammad Bukhsh, Baba Belleh Shah and Shah Hussain here at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).

Art lovers, educationists, intellectuals, poets, writers and a number of students attended the function, presided over by PAL chairman Fakhar Zaman.

Prior to the screening of 40 minutes each documentary, PAL chief said the objective of the production of the documentaries was to promote the Sufi poets’ message of humanity, love and peace in the society which was facing conflicting and trouble time and needs spiritual and moral guidance.

These documentaries will be subtitled with all UNO accepted six languages ie English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic, in addition to Urdu, Zaman said.

He said all members of ‘International Council of Sufism and Peace’ around the globe had committed its telecast and marketing throughout the world and these documentaries were produced keeping in view international standard.

Zaman further said that documentaries on Sufi poets would be a milestone in highlighting soft image of Pakistan in the world. “Since the International Conference of the Writers and Intellectuals on ‘Sufism & Peace’ in Islamabad, was a great success in projecting the soft image of Pakistan in the world.

It is need of the hour that documentaries on Sufi poets with subtitles in major languages of the world be produced by PAL and distributed by the Ministry of Culture and the writers unions of different countries of the world.

Executive producer of these documentaries is a poet, writer and anchorperson, Afzaal Shahid, who has a wide experience of production and had various award to his credit.

The PAL chairman said that the technical team of Stanza Arts, Lahore under Farrukh Zaman had produced these documentaries. Zaman is a graduate in Film and TV studies from Carleton University, Canada while associate director Hassan Shahid got certificate in music from Middlesex University, London and has experience of working with BBC I&II radio and Shakeel Shahzad Director Photography and Editor was graduate of Punjab University and had experience of documentaries and editing, Zaman said, adding Publication Officer of PAL, Tariq Shahid, is coordinator of the project.

At the end of ceremony documentaries on Sufi Poets, Shah Hussain, Bulleh Shah and Mian Muhammad Bukhsh were screened.

[Picture: Pakistan Academy of Letters. Photo: PAL.]