Shaheer Ahmed
In a surprising turn of events, an Indian producer joined hands with Pakistanis to produce an animated film. Emmy-winning producer of Netflix’s Delhi Crime, Apoorva Bakshi, announced teaming up with Pakistan’s first ever hand-drawn style animated feature film The Glassworker.
The Delhi Crime producer will run the film through her production company Awedacious Originals. Bakshi, who was swept off her feet by the impeccable talent of the animation team, said, “The Glassworker is a truly remarkable project spearheaded by the gifted trio – Usman, Mariam and Khizer, alongside a team of young artists in Pakistan who are igniting a creative revolution in South Asia through their exceptional work.”
The animated project is set in a setting that was inspired by the country of its origin, Pakistan. The buildings in the movie resemble those of a large city, and the characters’ outfits were modelled after the Shalwar Kameez, the nation’s traditional dress, in order to better connect with the audience.
The Miyazaki-inspired film tells the tale of a father-and-son team who run a glass studio but end up being drawn into a conflict they have no desire to be a part of.
The movie is directed by Usman Riaz, a longtime admirer of the animation style of Studio Ghibli, and is crowdsourced and funded through a Kickstarter effort that garnered $116,000 in donations.
In Karachi, Riaz also co-founded Mano Animation Studios, the first hand-drawn animation studio ever to employ both male and female animators.
The Glassworker was one of the eight international feature films chosen for the Work In Progress category at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Festival in France.Bakshi will also be working on another Pakistani feature, One Of A Kind by Iram Parveen Bilal, through Awedacious Originals.
