MEHREEN JABBAR
DIRECTOR / EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Mehreen Jabbar is an award winning and critically acclaimed Pakistani-American filmmaker and director, with over two decades of national and international experience. Her extensive catalog of directorial work includes two feature films, multiple TV and streaming series and several shorts, primarily created for the South Asian market.
Mehreen’s first feature, Ramchand Pakistani, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize and the Satyajit Ray Award. It was also screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and released theatrically in Pakistan, India, and the UK, with digital distribution in the US. Her second feature, Dobara Phir Se (Deja Vu) was released theatrically in Pakistan, the UK, the USA, and the UAE and was showcased at a number of film festivals.
In recent years Mehreen’s work has focused on developing and directing episodic series for streaming platforms and cable channels. These include Ek Jhooti Love Story (A False Love Story) and Farar (The Escape), both of which were created for Zee5, one of India’s largest streaming platforms and Jurm (The Crime), a 4 episode limited series for GEO TV, Pakistan.
Mehreen has served as a directing mentor at Mira Nair's ‘Maisha Film Lab’ in Uganda. She has served as a jury member for numerous local and international film festivals. She has also been a panel speaker at a number of film forums, and spoken at universities including NYU, Columbia University, St. Mary's College, Maryland, St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, and Kings College, UK.
MIRA NAIR
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Mira Nair is the rare, prolific filmmaker who fluidly moves between Hollywood and independent cinema. After several years of making documentary films, Mira Nair made a stunning entry on the world stage with her first feature, Salaam Bombay! (1988). It was the first Indian film to win the Camera D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1988, followed by more than 25 international awards including an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars in 1989.
In 2001, Nair’s Monsoon Wedding won the Golden Lion, Venice’s top prize in cinema, becoming one of the highest grossing foreign films of all time. Her film for HBO, Hysterical Blindness (2002), gave Uma Thurman a Golden Globe for the Best Actress, and Emmy Awards for Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands. Nair made Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (2004), followed by the acclaimed adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake (2006). Nair subsequently directed Amelia (2009), a biopic about the American aviator Amelia Earhart, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), which follows a Pakistani émigré wrestling with his cultural identity in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The biopic Queen of Katwe (2016) depicts the life of Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi. Nair later directed five episodes of the six-part miniseries A Suitable Boy (2020), an adaptation of Vikram Seth’s epic novel.
BILAL SAMI
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Bilal is a filmmaker and screenwriter with over two decades of experience in the film and television industry. His work spans producing, directing and writing films, documentaries and episodic television.
After running his production company out of Lahore from 2002 to 2008, making sitcoms and serials for Pakistani television, Bilal was awarded the Fulbright scholar for his MFA in Film at Ohio University.
From 2010-12 he worked for Partisan Pictures, NYC on documentaries produced for NatGeo, Discovery and the History Channel. In 2013 he collaborated with the acclaimed Pakistani music producer Mekaal Hasan on a documentary titled ‘Dhun’ which was featured at the Alchemy Festival at the Southbank Centre, London.
‘Dobara Phir Se’, Bilal's first feature, which he wrote and co-produced was released worldwide in November 2016 to critical acclaim. In the same year ‘Stories We Tell’ - a public art project that he created with the renowned artist Rashid Rana, was exhibited at the launch of the first Lahore Biennale. Bilal also helped produce the Karachi based crime thriller ‘Laal Kabootar' for Neher Ghar Productions in 2017.
In 2018 he established and subsequently ran Geo Entertainment's New Media division. He was then also given charge of the Social Media and Syndication portfolios for the channel.
Bilal now lives in New York and is working with Imagine Entertainment as the Series Associate Producer on a six-part episodic documentary series for Disney+ titled ‘Beyond Belief’ which will come out in 2024.
SAADIA BANGASH
PRODUCER
After graduating with a Masters in Media Studies from The New School in New York City in 2013, Saadia has spent most of her time at various media agencies and production companies in the capacity of Production Manager/Producer.
Her work encompasses project management and video/media production in the social and digital spaces for brands, creators and influencers.
Developing relationships with partners/collaborators and concept execution lie at the core of her day to day responsibilities.
Saadia is currently a freelance producer, immersed in creating premium content, and works with incredibly talented folks to get it done.
SHAH YASIR
SCREENWRITER
Shah Yasir published his first novel at the age of 21 which was later adapted into a telefilm for Pakistani TV. He has published various short stories in anthologies and began screenwriting in 2015 with a 22-episode TV serial in Pakistan.
In addition, he has written several telefilms for Pakistani TV as well as numerous web-series. Three of his short films were favorably received and one was recently screened at the Karachi Literature Festival , Divvy Film Festival and the Women’s International Film Festival in Karachi 2023.
His un-produced scripts have received various awards (UK Film Festival 2023, New York International Screenplay Awards 2023 & International New York Film Festival 2018). Two of his Urdu screenplays are presently being aired in Pakistan. Born and raised in Pakistan, he currently lives in Washington DC.
MUMTAZ MUSTAFA
ART DIRECTOR
Mumtaz Mustafa is an award-winning graphic designer who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design. She began her career in Graphic Design at HarperCollins Publishers and currently holds the position of Senior Art Director.
Mumtaz has art directed and designed covers for numerous celebrity authors and public figures such as Benazir Bhutto, Carrie Underwood, Jessica Simpson, Kate Hudson and Jeff Mauro. Her repertoire of books include, Reconciliation, Pioneer Woman, Open Book, Summer Wives, and many others which have made it to the New York Times best seller lists, and won awards.
Her cover designs for The Rise and Fall of Dodo and The Egg Shop Cookbook have been selected as the winner of the New York Book Show. Her work has been featured in publications celebrating Graphic Design including AIGA, Spine Magazine, Buzz Feed, Casual Optimist, Critics.org, as well as print publications including Vogue India, Newsline and Visage.
Mumtaz also works with filmmakers, architects, designers, and artists to create design that goes far beyond the printed word. She was the Production Designer on the critically acclaimed and award winning film Dobara Phir Se, which was filmed in New York and Karachi. She was also the stylist on the music video for Pasoori re-mix for Coke Studio Africa featuring the renowned artists Ali Sethi, Marwan Moussa & Reekado Banks. In addition she has designed posters for TV, film and web series and branded a number of leading lifestyle and health brands.
Mumtaz Mustafa lives and works in New York City.