Sarmad Khoosat’s latest film Lali had its world premiere at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. The screening took place on Thursday in Berlinale’s Panorama section and represented a milestone as the first fully Pakistani feature film to premiere at the festival. While the Berlinale has previously featured Pakistani co-productions, Lali is the first film produced entirely with local talent, storytelling, and production to reach this stage.

The Berlin premiere drew attention on social media, where images and videos of the event were widely shared. Actors, writers, assistant directors, producers, and crew members, including executive producer Tooba Siddiqui, posed together on the red carpet, presenting a collective showcase of Pakistani creative talent.

The film follows Zeba, a young woman married to Sajawal, a man whose insecurity develops into paranoia. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Zeba, played by Mamya Shajaffar, enters the marriage already shadowed by superstition: “Three of her former suitors have died under mysterious circumstances, earning her the unsettling reputation of a cursed bride.”

Ahead of the premiere, the Lali team was hosted by Pakistan’s Ambassador to Germany, Saqlain Syedah. A group photograph shared from the gathering captured the sense of camaraderie among the cast and crew leading up to the film’s debut.

For Khoosat, the Berlinale premiere continues a trajectory of international recognition. His previous projects, including Joyland, which he produced and which won the Jury Prize at Cannes, and Zindagi Tamasha, which he directed, were both Pakistan’s official submissions to the Academy Awards. With Lali, Khoosat places a fully homegrown Pakistani production on one of the world’s most prestigious cinema stages.