KARACHI, Pakistan, Oct 23, (Agencies): Pakistani actress Amtul Baweja, starring in the lead role of the short film 'Solatia,' expressed her excitement on Saturday as the project secured a spot at the prestigious Red Sea Film Festival scheduled to kick off in Jeddah next month. Among 14 entries in the Red Sea: Shorts Competition, 'Solatia' is one of only two Pakistani short films competing at the festival's third edition running from November 30 to December 9.

Directed by a female filmmaker and co-produced by another, the Pakistani short film will vie with entries from Germany, Indonesia, the US, Iran, and South Africa at the festival. Amtul Baweja mentioned, "I'm very, very excited because it happens to be our first submission. And of course, getting selected on your first submission is, I think, a win in itself."

Baweja described the festival as one of the most prestigious in the world, adding that a win for the short film would be "unbelievable."

'Solatia' is a female-led drama directed by Pakistani filmmaker Hira Yousafzai and co-produced by Hirra Farooqi. It centers around the main character, Zamda, portrayed by Baweja, who resides in a shelter with other displaced individuals. Zamda, in despair, spends her time poring over old photos of her missing husband as she longs for his company. Despite losing everything, Zamda is a strong character, as Baweja emphasized, "You can see from the start that Zamda is a very, very strong woman. She's not afraid to stand up for what's right."

Farooqi, the co-producer, explained that the themes of love, loss, resilience, and hope were intentionally woven into the film, particularly in the context of displacement. She noted that, in most films, women were depicted as waiting for "a significant other" or their partner to save them. "Zamda is compelling and different in this context," Farooqi added. "She is looking for her husband, she is the one who was asking for answers and demanding them."

Farooqi, a first-generation Canadian immigrant with Afghan-Pakistani parents, stated that displaced people are often seen as statistics and not humanized. "We wanted to humanize their stories by tying in these themes of hope, love, loss, resilience, through the characters and through the compassion that they feel for one another."

Baweja expressed her attraction to the project not only due to its compelling narrative but also because it was directed and produced by women. She added, "As soon as I read the script, I was like, 'Okay, I need to do this, I need to make this happen. I want to do this.' And I think wherever this film will be played, people will relate to it."

For Baweja, the Red Sea Film Festival offers an opportunity to connect with filmmakers and artists from Saudi Arabia and around the world. "I think they will bring their own flavor," she said. "You know, they will learn from us, we will learn from them."

She remarked that the Red Sea Film Festival was a great way to showcase that the Middle East and the Muslim world are progressing in the right direction. "If you look at Saudi Arabia itself, in recent years, they have been taking a lot of initiatives, they're collaborating with content creators," she said. "They're opening the country for tourism, for travel. They're taking a lot of initiatives toward arts, culture."

Farooqi also praised the Red Sea Film Festival, describing it as one of the largest festivals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and beyond. She expressed her delight that Muslim countries were finally focusing on representing their narratives. "It's so great to see that we are finally recognizing the importance of representation on screen," Farooqi said. "These countries are encouraging their filmmakers, the youth to take control of their own narrative and to tell their stories because oftentimes we see our stories are told by other people."