Pakistan's 'Darling' wins Best Short at Venice Film Festival

Pakistani short film Darling won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film/Horizons Award for the best short film at the Venice Film Festival. 

Directed by Saim Sadiq, Darling tells the story of a young boy and a trans girl. The film features upcoming actress Mehar Bano, Abdullah Malik, and Nadia Afgan (Suno Chanda and Shaslik).

Not only that, the role of Alina in Darling is played by Alina Khan, a real transgender actor from Lahore for whom the film marks as her acting debut.

Pakistan's 'Darling' tackles transgender representation, stretches boundaries of acceptability

'By having these stories out in world and for people to see themselves in media and culture as human beings, I think we stretch the boundaries of what's acceptable'

The short film's co-producers include and Fahad Nabi and Jasmin Tennuci, with Mo Azmi — who produced and shot Cake and Laal Kabootar — the director of photography.

Sadiq’s previous short film, Nice Talking to You, was an official selection at South by Southwest 2019, Palm Springs International Shortsfest 2019, and won Vimeo's Best Director award at Columbia University Film Festival 2018.