Kami Sid
Curator and Festival Coordinator, Karachi
Aks International Minorities Festival
Why do you think Aks festival is important?
Aks is more than just a film festival; it’s a platform for the dialogues that empower transgender and other sexual minorities and build bridges between minorities and mainstream society in Pakistan. We are the only festival that provides safe space to our own community members to share their stories. Aks gives us the motivation to explore the world, claim our rights for inclusion and equality. I personally feel delightful to be part of Aks festival because it makes our alliances stronger and helps in better communication with the mainstream society.
What role do you play to make it more effective?
I contribute as an individual entity and support as coordinator of the events in Karachi. As a program coordinator from Karachi, Pakistan, I believe without inclusion of the general public we cannot achieve our goals or make our program effective. That’s why I intensively work on our participant lists to make sure they are inclusive. I intend to work to create a forum for courageous individuals to share their stories and empower audiences with knowledge.
How do you achieve your personal goals through Aks festival?
Being transgender and marginalized in Pakistan, this platform gives me a chance to explore myself and the courage to be visible and claim my rights, my space. It also allows me to work with other like-minded people in the festival team. As a transgender community, it is very important to highlight our existence and Aks is a vibrant medium to build a bridge that enables understanding of minorities in the society.
Where do you see it in 10 years time?
In 10 years, I wish Aks festival to be a socio-cultural and political event of the world, but first, we have to embrace Aks festival as our own child and be officially public festival where we can celebrate diversity and equality without any prejudices and discriminations.
Neeli Rana
Head of Media Communication and Founder
Aks International Minorities Festival
Why do you think Aks festival is important?
Aks festival is very important because it empowers us to discuss our issue which are never heard or highlighted before through such platforms.This is a unique and the only festival, which celebrates the diversity, tolerance and acceptability and work toward building bridges through peaceful dialogues. The most important thing is that this festival is created by the community therefore we make sure that we have full and equal accessibility at all the events of this festival.
What role do you play to make it more effective?
As we tend to make sure there is a full accessibility of transgender community members, so such community gathering helps in creating awareness. From the beginning, it was my idea to start such an initiative in Pakistan, which highlights the coexistence of minorities and marginalized communities. This is what makes it more effective and unique and it has never been done before.
How do you achieve your personal goals through Aks festival?
It helps me to work with my community together as a community leader. It also built into my personal knowledge capacity while seeing international cinema, we get awareness what are the struggles of people like us in the other parts of the world and how do they combat to make their life easier. Aks festival also provides platform to the local artists and activists to showcase their work and educate audiences with their knowledge. I have both as an activist and artist took part in several of such events through Aks festival both in Pakistan and other countries of the world.
Where do you see it in 10 years time?
I would like to see it bigger and expanded into different cities and area to ensure the accessibility of those who cannot come to Lahore, Karachi or Islamabad. I would also like to see Aks helps in facilitating and polishing local artists, so our community members can produce films and art through this channel.
Jannat Ali
Art Curator and Festival Coordinator, Lahore
Aks International Minorities Festival
Why do you think Aks festival is important?
It is very important to have awareness through films and open dialogues, which usually does not happen in Pakistan. Aks festival not only builds the capacity of community members and sensitizes them regarding minority movements, but also creates stronger alliances between community and mainstream society that encourages tolerance, acceptability, and access.
What role do you play to make it more effective?
Being a performing artist and being MBA Gold medalist it helps me to use my skills to enhance the level of festival more effectively and efficiently. During the first year of Aks festival, I was asked to perform voluntarily, which I absolutely adored and realised how important it is to have such platforms, since then I have worked as project coordinator and art curator for Aks festival.
How do you achieve your personal goals through Aks festival?
It helps me to share my knowledge and to sensitize people about gender, society, and art through my performance and helps me to do my share in the field activism for human rights.
Where do you see it in 10 years time?
I want to see Aks Festival to work as a bigger platform for minorities in Pakistan, where we all have a safe and enabling environment to have open dialogues to share our stories, to be inspired to find solutions to make human lives beautiful and peaceful in Pakistan.