Pakistani ensemble to tell story in music, film
As Pakistan’s Sachal Ensemble makes its way to the Capital Region to perform on its first-ever U.S. tour, a local movie screening will help tell the group’s story in a different medium.
The ensemble is a Pakistani musical act that will play at Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s Spa Little Theatre on Saturday, followed by a second area performance at Proctors in Schenectady on Monday. Bracketed by those shows, a film, “Song of Lahore,” by Academy Award-winning director Sharmeen ObaidChinoy and Andy Schocken, will be shown at 7 p.m. at Bow Tie Criterion Cinemas in downtown Saratoga Springs.
Song of Lahore tells the story of the ensemble, a group of artists trying to survive under the oppression and brutality of modern day Pakistan. The film illustrates how their music-making not only brought inspiration to their lives, but literally sustained them in their struggles, and how, finally, they were discovered on YouTube and asked to perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Before the local screening, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy shared some behind-the-scenes perspective about Song of Lahore.
QWhat is the message you hope Song of Lahore sends to event-goers at this upcoming Saratoga Springs screening?
AI want people to leave the event with a greater understanding of the rich cultural heritage of Pakistan. “Song of Lahore” moves beyond headlines and stereotypes and shows that a vast majority of Pakistanis are not perpetrators of religious violence — they are victims of it. The beautiful cultural heritage of the region belies its image in the West as monolithically religious, intolerant and violent.
By giving our audience intimate access to the lives of these musicians, we hope to raise awareness of the region’s beautiful cultural heritage and present a more nuanced portrait of its people. As one of the film subjects, Nijat Ali, says in the film, “God willing, the entire world will see that Pakistanis are artists, not terrorists.”
QWhat is it like to have your film, and the group it features, both being presented together?
ASong of Lahore and the Sachal Group, together have been presented at numerous small gatherings however it is the first time that the film and group, in collaboration with Saratoga Performing Art Center, are coming together to perform at a grand concert.
QAre you currently working on any other upcoming films or projects?
AI, in collaboration with Here Be Dragons and WITHIN, am working on a series of short virtual reality films “Look But With Love.” This series of short films takes you on a journey to explore the culture of Pakistan and introduces you to five brave heroes across the country who are transforming their communities. Look But with Love is immersion into a school of dance in rural Pakistan to a musician who is trying to preserve old sounds and instruments to the wells of the desert in Thar where a man is fighting to bring clean water to the slums of Karachi where a doctor is fighting to save the lives of some of the youngest patients to a band of women who are a part of Pakistan’s antiterrorism squad. We are taking this technology to low incomes to create awareness amongst the youth about the world around them.
More information on The Sachal Ensemble’s upcoming SPAC performance and the Song of Lahore screening is available online at www.spac.org.