Bradford College will be hosting the Royal Society of Arts and Commerce Pakistan Calling event on Thursday 15th January at the new campus, The David Hockney Building.
Held within the Michele Sutton Theatre, the event will take place from 12:30pm to 4pm and will feature key speakers, Anwar Akhtar, Director of The Samosa and co lead RSA Pakistan Calling; Cllr Alyas Karmani, Chair of Just West Yorkshire and Cllr Ralph David Ritchie Berry, Children and Young People’s Services.
RSA Pakistan Calling is an online film project showing links between civil and cultural organisations and communities in Pakistan and the UK. The event will feature screenings from some of the films in RSA Pakistan Calling www.thersa.org/pkcalling<http://www.thersa.org/pkcalling>. These films explore some of the many pressing social problems faced by Pakistan and shine a light on, and support, some of the inspiring stories of people and organisations tackling these issues.
The screening will be followed by talks by the panel and then a question and answer session. The event aims to encourage young people from Bradford to engage with film and journalism skills, storytelling and media campaigning.
The films also explore issues of identity, integration and the aspirations of British citizens with Pakistani heritage. Working with film makers from Karachi, Lahore, London, Luton and Manchester, over 60 films have been produced and curated looking at identity, education, equality, culture, health, development, conflict resolution, women, tolerance and minority rights issues in Pakistan and the UK. The film platform is a resource that can be used by community organisations, academics, students, women’s groups, teachers and youth workers.
The project aims to increase awareness and support for Pakistani civil society organisations and activists’, working to tackle the country’s many pressing social problems. The project hopes to promote cross-cultural dialogue and community trust in the UK by profiling the many different faces of Pakistan and supporting filmmakers working in areas such as Arts, Social Welfare and Citizen Journalism.
Pakistan Calling builds on a project run by the RSA andwww.thesamosa.co.uk<http://www.thesamosa.co.uk> in 2011. It provides a platform for filmmakers in Pakistan and the UK, and articulates the many relationships between Britain and Pakistan. Events in Lahore and Karachi affect families and communities in Bradford and Manchester and the project aims to build stronger links between Pakistani social projects, the British Pakistani diaspora and a wider group of social entrepreneurs in the UK, fostering positive dialogue about Pakistan in Britain.
