2008-2009 “JESHTAK-The Female Divine” 47min
Genre Ethnographic Documentary & Fiction
Languages Kalasha, Urdu, Pushto & English
My role: Researcher, Writer, Director & Editor
[ Kalasha Valleys( Birir, Bumburet & Rumbur), Hunza Valleys (Gulmit & Karimabad), Peshawar & Lahore]
Jeshtak which means the female divine is set in the three valleys of the most remote tribe called KALASHA; Numbering about approximately four thousand five hundred residents, situated in the south west part of Chitral, North West Frontier Province in Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan.
The film is a journey into the heart of KALASHA, a dying civilization and a peak into the life of a young Kalasha girl. A group of student filmmakers stumble into the intricate existence of her family and ultimately become a part of their dramatic yet simple life.
When so-called Incest, a religion on loss and a desire for a new love threatens to tear the family apart, what may unite them is a common factor called JESHTAK (One of Kalasha’s female deity.)
This film is a kaleidoscopic view of human life and KALASHA in particular makes the essential human compassion to come out.
