Zarrar Kahn, also sometimes credited as Hamza Bangash, is a Pakistani-Canadian film director and screenwriter, whose debut feature film ''

In Flames In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. During t ...

'' premiered at the

2023 Cannes Film Festival The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival was a film festival that took place from 16 to 27 May 2023. Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund served as jury president. With the French film ''Anatomy of a Fall'' winning the Palme d'Or, the festival's top pr ...

,Scott Roxborough

'' The Hollywood Reporter'', May 18, 2023. and was Pakistan's official submission for Best International Feature Film at the

96th Academy Awards The 96th Academy Awards is an upcoming ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which will honor the best 2023 in film, films of 2023, and is expected to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Ange ...

in 2024.

Biography

Originally from Karachi, Pakistan,Namrata Joshi
"Another Pakistani film tackling patriarchy to premiere in France"
''

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

'', April 19, 2023. he spent part of his childhood there before emigrating with his family to

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

, Ontario, Canada. He has continued to live and work in both countries, with most of his films being Pakistani-Canadian co-productions. His first short, ''Dia'', won the Audience Award during the 2020

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

. ''Stray Dogs Come Out at Night'', his next short, was the first film from Pakistan to be selected at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. His films typically centre on characters who are struggling against their status as outsiders in Pakistan's conservative religious society, such as women, people with physical or

intellectual disabilities Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signific ...

, LGBT people or members of religious minority groups. ''In Flames'' was the winner of the John Dunning Best First Feature Award at the

12th Canadian Screen Awards The 12th Canadian Screen Awards is an upcoming ceremony, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2023. They are scheduled to be held at the Can ...

in 2024.

Filmography

*''Dia'', 2018 *''1978'', 2020 *''Stray Dogs Come Out at Night'', 2020 *''Brothers (Bhai)'', 2021"Pakistani short film Bhai makes it to prestigious Toronto International Film Festival"
'' Dawn'', August 16, 2021. *''

'', 2023

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Zarrar 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Pakistani male writers Canadian male screenwriters Film directors from Ontario Film directors from Karachi Pakistani screenwriters Pakistani emigrants to Canada Writers from Karachi Writers from Mississauga Living people Asian-Canadian filmmakers Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Screenwriters from Ontario 1991 births