Private Project

From Freedom to Bondage, a sorry tale of Tharparkar

Can you imagine slavery in 21st Century? It may have changed faces in the modern society but has somehow managed to survive in its primitive and
most basic arrangement in few places; unfortunately, ugliest face of human bondage still exist in some parts of the world. This short film narrates the story of an ill-fated group of human slaves in Pakistan.
Each year after drought in the farthest corner of Province Sindh of Pakistan, there lives a community mainly of scheduled Hindu caste that opt the life of slavery against the promise of food. How do they live? What makes them opt for bondage? How hard is it to break this cycle? If not legal then why state allows it to happen?
The short documentary records the narrative of three such men who have suffered at the hands of this obsolete feudal system still prevalent in a forgotten part of the world.

  • Gaitty Ara
    Director
  • Gaitty Ara
    Writer
  • Imdad Ali Soomro
    Producer
  • Huda Ikram
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 37 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 10, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Pakistan
  • Country of Filming:
    Pakistan
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16.9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Gaitty Ara

A journalist by profession, a filmmaker at heart. Been associated with broadcast journalism for more than 15 years. Mainly based in Pakistan but been reporting events from many major metropolis around the world.

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Director Statement

As a person behind the camera I have came across numerous stories that need to be told to the audience beyond the news bulletins and newspaper columns. Lives of Bheel community of Tharparkar desert , living in abject poverty and making decisions effecting the lives of generations to come, is among the voices that need to be heard world over; with a hope that it might change the fate of thousands still struggling.