KARACHI-Pakistan International Film Festival under the banner of Karachi Film Society is all set to host hands-on intensive screenwriting workshops here in the metropolitan city from November 3 to 6 and November 8 to 10 for fresh and mid-career writers.
The workshops will be conducted by the renowned Indian screenwriting teacher, screenwriter, script consultant and an independent filmmaker Ashwini Malik. Film is a highly-collaborative medium and undoubtedly the most vital part of a film is the screenplay, which is the key to any film’s box office success.
Globally, screenwriter’s role in filmmaking is considered as important as that of the director. Keeping in mind the dire need to develop and train local screenwriting resources, KFS has taken the step to hold screenwriting workshops.
The workshop for fresh writers is developed in two stages. The first stage is to impart the essential principles of the art and craft of screenwriting to the participants, and later they will be tasked to develop a screenplay under mentorship during the workshop. Workshop for mid-career writers is devised to aid writers through in-depth revision of the basics of screenwriting and brush up the essential principles of the art and craft. Writers often tend to get so involved in the business of writing that they are left with little or no time to revisit the craft that they have learnt, and are thus employing every day to create stories and scripts.
This workshop will help them refresh their minds, replenish their resources and update their skills.
The workshops will also discuss the uniqueness of storytelling in the subcontinent and how Indian and Pakistani films are different in their approach from the Western models.
Ashwini Malik is a screenwriting teacher, screenwriter, script consultant and an independent filmmaker.
After graduating from Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune in 1994, he began his career by writing and directing TV shows. He has been teaching screenwriting since 2004, at FTII, Pune and Whistling Woods International, Mumbai. He regularly conducts workshops in India and abroad, and has been a mentor at several script labs including New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters (Asia Society), Mumbai Mantra CineRise Screenwriting Programme, the MAISHA film labs in East Africa, NFDC’s script development workshop and the Indo-German Screenwriting programme. His screenwriting credits include I Am, Road, Movie and Sorry Bhai.
