their lives become entangled in desire, paranoia and family tensions
Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s Lali premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, which was held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.
The Pakistani filmmaker was joined by actors Mamya Shajaffar, Channan Hanif and Farazeh Syed for the London premiere.
Combining pitch-black comedy with supernatural elements, Lali explores marriage, grief, superstition and social expectations through the story of a young woman whose past casts a shadow over her future.
Lali follows Zeba, played by Mamya Shajaffar, who is considered cursed after the unexpected deaths of her previous fiancés.
She ends up marrying Sajawal, played by Channan Hanif, an emotionally scarred man grappling with his own fears, insecurities and troubled history.
As the newlyweds attempt to navigate their uneasy union, their lives become entangled in desire, paranoia and family tensions, with the boundaries between the living and the dead beginning to blur.
The result is a genre-defying exploration of relationships and the pressures of tradition, where dark humour meets domestic drama and supernatural mystery.
Set in Sahiwal and rooted in Punjabi culture, Lali brings together a cast that includes Shajaffar, Hanif and Rasti Farooq, alongside Farazeh Syed, Mehar Bano and Juggan Kazim.
The film is directed and co-written by Khoosat, one of Pakistan’s most acclaimed contemporary filmmakers.
He previously directed Zindagi Tamasha and produced Saim Sadiq’s award-winning Joyland, which became the first Pakistani film to compete in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Khoosat reunites with Sadiq on Lali, with the latter serving as editor and casting director.
The screenplay is written by Khoosat and Sundus Hashmi.
The film’s latest screening follows a landmark moment earlier this year when Lali received its world premiere in the Panorama section of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, becoming the first fully Pakistani-produced feature film to premiere at the Berlinale.
Now in its 70th year, the BFI London Film Festival is taking place from October 7 to 18, with the festival bringing 251 features, shorts, series and immersive works from 88 countries to audiences across the UK.
The programme includes films from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen, Morocco and Egypt.
Across the selection, filmmakers explore themes including beauty standards, class, labour, displacement, censorship, queer identity, war, family and community through genres ranging from body horror and satire to thrillers and intimate dramas.
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