Two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy celebrated five years of Patakha Pictures, an initiative of SOC Films dedicated to nurturing Pakistan’s next generation of documentary filmmakers, at a special event in Karachi that also spotlighted the eight women filmmakers selected for the 2026 edition of its filmmaking mentorship and funding programme, Claim the Frame.
Since its launch in 2022, Patakha Pictures has supported 76 emerging filmmakers, whose work has collectively received more than 22 awards and screened at over 100 film festivals worldwide. Presented in partnership with the British Council and the Scottish Documentary Institute, Claim the Frame marks the eighth cycle of the programme, bringing together eight women filmmakers from Punjab, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan in four creative pairs. Their documentaries explore women breaking barriers in traditionally male spaces, climate change and child marriage, survival and artistic tradition in Cholistan, and generations of women providing healthcare in one of Pakistan’s most remote valleys.
Speaking about the programme, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Founder, Patakha Pictures, said, “Five years of Patakha Pictures have reaffirmed a fundamental belief: talent is universal, but opportunity is not. Together with the British Council Pakistan and the Scottish Documentary Institute, we have seen how access to funding, mentorship, and creative freedom can transform the journeys of women filmmakers. From our award-winning alumni to our new ‘Claim the Frame’ fellows, their achievements demonstrate why investing in emerging voices matters. Our ambition now is to establish Patakha Pictures as a permanent space where the next generation of storytellers can learn and collaborate.”
Indeed, the five-year celebration reflected on Patakha Pictures’ evolution from a filmmaking mentorship initiative into a growing community of storytellers from across Pakistan, while turning the spotlight towards the programme’s next generation. Through successive cycles, fellows have received funding, international mentorship, practical filmmaking support and opportunities to develop stories rooted in their own communities.
Meet the 2026 Claim the Frame Fellows and Their Films
- Pair 1: Ishma Areeb & Javaria Waseem – Lahore, Punjab
Filmmakers Ishma Areeb and Javaria Waseem explore the story of Anum Shakoor, a woman who found strength and healing through horses before entering the overwhelmingly male world of tent pegging.
- Pair 2: Aleezeh Fatima & Aisha Manzoor – Karachi, Sindh
Set in rural Sindh, Aleezeh Fatima and Aisha Manzoor’s documentary examines the relationship between climate change, poverty, and child marriage.
- Pair 3: Kinza Waqar Un Nisa Zainab & Jazaba Raheel – Bahawalpur and Lahore, Punjab
Rooted in the landscape of the Cholistan Desert, the documentary by Kinza Waqar Un Nisa Zainab and Jazaba Raheel follows Bakht Ali, whose life, art and relationship with the desert form a portrait of resilience.
- Pair 4: Shagufta Rasool & Munira Shah – Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Woman Who Carried Life Across Mountains traces the legacy of Lal Pari, a retired healthcare worker and midwife who spent decades reaching women across the remote Shimshal Valley, and Nabila, a younger nurse continuing that work today.
Laila Jamil, Arts Director, British Council Pakistan, said, “For me, the value of a project like Claim the Frame lies not just in the films it brings to life, but in whose stories get to be told, and who gets to tell them. Pakistan has no shortage of talent or stories worth sharing; what matters is creating the space, support and opportunities for more voices to be heard. By bringing together Patakha Pictures, the Scottish Documentary Institute and the British Council, we are helping women filmmakers shape the narratives that reflect the diversity of our experiences and the world we live in. This is how we build a more inclusive creative sector, while creating meaningful connections between Pakistan and the UK through the power of film.”
Over the course of the five-month programme, the fellows received production funding, weekly online mentorship, an intensive in-person Edit Week in Karachi, and specialised workshops spanning storytelling, camera techniques, editing and other practical aspects of documentary filmmaking.
Returning for the fifth time as an international mentor was acclaimed documentary filmmaker and Scottish Documentary Institute founder Noe Mendelle, joined by filmmaker and cinematographer Nadir Siddiqui, nonfiction and animation producer Huma Murad Shah, award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker Maryam Ishani Thompson, Edit Mentor Husain Qaizar, and sound engineer and producer Sameer Khan, bringing expertise across cinematography, documentary production and ethics, journalism and sound design.
In attendance were Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, British Council/Scottish Documentary Institute representatives, diplomatic community, filmmakers, media and other notable attendees, including Ayeza Khan, Sana Javed, Sanam Saeed, Momal Sheikh, Ali Khan, Erica Robin, Amna Ilyas, Adnan Malik, Tapu Javeri, Amean J. and Sania Maskatiya to name a few.
PATAKHA PICTURES is an initiative of SOC Films dedicated to supporting the next generation of documentary storytellers in Pakistan.