Zarrar Kahn is an award-winning Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker who saw his film IN FLAMES premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival as part of the Director’s Fortnight. The first Pakistani film to play in Cannes Director’s Fortnight in nearly half a century, IN FLAMES is a ghostly parable about Pakistan’s insidious patriarchal order. A psychological thriller, the film stars Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi and Jibran Khan.
IN FLAMES follows Mariam, who lives with her younger brother and their mother, Fariha, in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan, where women’s property rights are fragile. Mariam’s mother, grieving and isolated, is easy to influence. Mariam, distraught by her mother’s foolishness, finds solace in a secret romance with a fellow student, Asad.
When their relationship takes an unexpected turn, Mariam becomes consumed by nightmares. Meanwhile, her mother, caught between her coercive Uncle and a murky legal system, is oblivious to her daughter’s deteriorating mental state. Mariam’s nightmares begin to bleed into reality. Mother and daughter must come together if they hope to overcome the real and phantasmal forces that threaten to engulf them.
IN FLAMES was released in theaters on April 12, 2024.
