Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s production house SOC Films has launched a new series HOME1947 based on the Partition.
According to a press release, the HOME1947 Series is a deeply personal exploration of the lives and stories of the millions that were displaced in 1947 during the creation of two new independent states, India and Pakistan.
“HOME1947 is a series of 7 short films conceptualised and produced by SOC Films, which recreate the long-lost sights and sounds of what millions once called home and explores this world not through the words of historians and politicians, but through the eyes of those who lived through it,” read the official press release.
The series kickstarted with the release of a short-film titled Beila, directed by the critically acclaimed and award winning director Kamal Khan of Laal Kabootar fame.
Beila chronicles the journey of a mother singing her baby to sleep on a crowded train in the chaos of 1947 heading towards an unfamiliar destination. The short film starres Faiza Gillani in the lead, who reportedly sang the song live on set in a one take performance.
The HOME1947 Series first premiered as part of the HOME1947 Exhibition at the Manchester International Festival in the UK followed by exhibitions in Mumbai, Lahore and Karachi. It has been co-commissioned by the British Council in Pakistan in collaboration with the Manchester International Festival and Super Slow Way.
