Documentary Screening: Waseb (Nation), 2015

Speaker: Dr Ali Nobil Ahmad

Film: Waseb (Nation), 2015 (running time: 22 minutes)

Language: Urdu/Saraiki, English subtitles

Written and directed by Dr Ali Nobil Ahmad

Synopsis

In 2010 catastrophic monsoon floods led to the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history, displacing 20 million people and killing thousands. Waseb documents the response of one heavily affected community to these events. Investigative in scope but poetic in style and format, the film charts experiences of escape, survival and political mobilization through interviews with local people in the months following the disaster. Whereas mainstream media portrayed flood-affected populations as unfortunate victims of a rain-induced tragedy, Waseb depicts them as agents in an ongoing political struggle with elites and the state. Emboldened by an environmentalism of the poor embedded in local tradition, their struggle sheds much needed light on the impact of climate change in one of the most important, least understood countries in the world.

The director of the film, Dr Ali Nobil Ahmad, will be present for the screening and there will be a Q&A session afterwards.

For more information, contact Dr George Kunnath (george.kunnath@wolfson.ox.ac.uk)

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