Iram Parveen Bilal's Wakhri (2024) won the Best Director Feature Film award at the 5th Yellowstone International Film Festival (YIFF) in New Delhi, India. Co-produced and directed by Iram Parveen, the drama film is inspired by the life of late Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch.
Now, the film is getting special treatment again by landing distribution in several international territories. Variety reports the film is rolling across France, Brazil, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. Channel 4's 2026 South Asian Film Season is backing the film's distribution in the UK.
Wakhri was released by Mandviwalla Entertainment on January 5, 2024. The film got a mainstream theatrical release, but due to the lack of a centralized and transparent box office tracking system like Box Office Mojo, its box office figures are not officially reported or publicly available.
It is a sad state of affairs in Lollywood that indie filmmakers struggle to get direct recognition from local audiences before they get praise in the international market. The Pakistani audience, despite being accustomed to watching foreign content of all sorts, is skeptical about its own homegrown films. How devastating it is to find films like In Flames (2023) to have grossed only a worldwide total of $1,990, as per Box Office Mojo, while the same film premiered at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight, later selected as the country's official submission for the 96th Academy Awards.
Saim Sadiq's Joyland (2022) won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes but faced severe backlash, getting caught in a release controversy and government ban. Sarmad Sultan Khoosat's Zindagi Tamasha (2019) met a similar fate, despite earning humongous international recognition. I mentioned previously that few indie films get local distributors if a big director's name like Sarmad Khoosat or shining actors like Mahira Khan or Fawad Khan are not attached to the project.
These are the indie films that do not get featured much on the cinema schedules, as the "now showing" section of Pakistani cinemas either has romantic comedies or eight other international films like Insidious: Out of the Further or Resident Evil. It leads to limited screens, fewer showtimes, fewer audiences, and ultimately, weaker box office returns.
Afia Nathaniel's Dukhtar (2014), which premiered in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014 before its domestic release, is a clear example. Unfortunately, Pakistani audiences often recognize a film's worth only after it receives international acclaim.
Even after Wakhri's initial screenings, the reviews were mixed. Faryal Mehmood's portrayal of Noor was hailed due to her energetically authentic performance, but the writing and direction were called "weak". Obviously, again, since Faryal isn't an A-list star and the director isn't very well-known, the film suffered at the box office and is now attempting to get international distribution.
Speaking to Geo News, Wakhri producer Abid Aziz Merchant described the film's international screenings as a form of "validation" for the team. Acknowledging the challenges Pakistani cinema faces at home, he said the film's international journey offers a glimpse of blue sky for other filmmakers.
It is obvious that international recognition can help independent Pakistani filmmakers attract distributors, media attention, and new audiences. International recognition matters, and it has been happening all over the world. Fjord (2026) is a multi-country co-production (involving Romania, Norway, France, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland) that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or.
The practical value of international platforms is non-negotiable. Filmmakers are connected with distributors, producers, financiers, and other members of the community who could support them in future endeavors. A film's commercial life gets a huge push if foreign broadcasters and streaming services pick up the film. Critics and reviewers from several international publications are present at the festivals and give their instant reviews, giving international exposure to the film.
Social media plays a huge role these days in getting the first reviews out as soon as the early attendees are out of the festival. You can already see Twitter/X filled with early reactions to South Korea's Possible Love out of the London Film Festival (LFF). These audiences create an opportunity for films like Wakhri to get a spotlight that would be useful for getting greenlit in their domestic market.
Does it become a problem when overseas selection is treated as proof of quality while domestic audiences, cinemas, and distribution networks remain underdeveloped? Wakhri was already made, screened, and released in the country of origin, yet its new British platform is being celebrated as a major milestone. It also implies little institutional support independent cinema receives at home.
Iram Parveen has already discussed the importance of international film infrastructure, development opportunities, and access to distribution while talking to Cinema Express. The Red Sea International Film Festival and SXSW are the two international bases where the film has already screened, as, according to her, "regional festivals allow discovering and creating success."
The director went on to point out the local financing, distribution, exhibition, and audience support needed to sustain independent filmmakers as well as the entire industry, as she corroborated that the domestic industry continues to struggle with political instability, limited cinema infrastructure, and weak distribution networks.
Decades of cinema closures, restrictions on foreign content, and inconsistent industry support have left Pakistani cinema caught in a cycle of limited film production. International distributors are forced to rely on barely 10-12 filmmakers capable of telling independent, unique stories rooted in the region; ironically, the same stories often struggle to find an equally enthusiastic audience at home.
The growing international interest in Pakistani stories has helped these filmmakers access resources and audiences that might otherwise remain out of reach. This, irrefutably, puts a question mark on the Pakistani audience, who otherwise love international content and eccentric stories but are not willing to show backing in terms of box office numbers when it comes to local stories.
Where is the sustainable path to success? Because the stories are, ultimately, made for the audience, right?
Echoes is an opinion column on film and television from the perspective of a writer based in Pakistan.