Music from the slums of Karachi: The Kochi Biennale Screens 'Lyari Notes'

Music from the slums of Karachi: The Kochi Biennale Screens 'Lyari Notes'

  • 03 Feb 2017
  • Rheanna Mathews
  • Features

Screened at the Pavilion, Cabral Yard, as part of the ‘Cinema from the Sub-Continent’ film package and the ‘Artists’ Cinema’ programme conceptualised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation, the documentary film, ‘Lyari Notes’, ended to energetic and expressive applause on 1 February, 2017.

The idea for the movie came to Miriam Chandy Menacherry, who lives in Mumbai, when she came across music generated by Karachi’s underground music scene, and realised that it was sparking dialogue between Pakistani and Indian youth. Directed by both Miriam and Karachi-based filmmaker Maheen Zia, the movie spans four years and follows the lives of four girls living in Karachi’s Lyari district and their pursuit of music in spite of the violence and uncertainties surrounding them.

The protagonists of the film, Aqsa, Mehroz, Javeria and Sherbano, get the chance to attend music lessons due to the unconventional nature of the school they attend, the Kiran School System, and the vision of musician Hamsa Jafri who travelled with an armed bodyguard, having been mugged and carjacked in the past.

Set against the anarchical reality of Pakistan, the girls’ story is inspiring, not least because they don’t let anything deviate them from their path. Perhaps because of the brutality they have been exposed to, the girls react to events that have gained the world’s attention, like Malala Yousafzai receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 and the shooting of children at a school in Peshawar later that year, with wisdom an understanding beyond their years.

 

“The story is timeless and universal: on the search for a space of creativity and self-expression in the face of overt threats and violence. Such spaces are quickly shrinking around the world when confronted by ideologies and extremism of all hues. The individual acts of seeking them out despite the risks are crucial acts of resistance and deserve not only to be chronicled, but also communicated to diverse audiences on diverse platforms. The screening of Lyari Notes on the sidelines of the Biennale is one such attempt,” said Riyas Komu, KBF Secretary.

Lyari Notes, released in 2016, has won accolades at various fora the world over.

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