The Glassworker, as an animated film drawn by hand for the first time in Pakistan, is a groundbreaking initiative in the country’s movie industry. Directed by Usman Riaz and produced by Mano Animation Studios, it has taken over ten years to develop this independent film. The film’s voice cast incorporates famous actors from various backgrounds like Art Malik, Anjli Mohindra, Teresa Gallagher and Mina Anwar. A passion project according to Riaz, it also reflects that through animation he perceives the art as a medium of powerful personal narratives and thematic expression.
This is the coming of age tale of two children who come from entirely different social classes: Vincent, an apprentice glassblower learning from his father; and Alliz, a young violinist whose father is a colonel. Their affectionate friendship is based on sincere love only growing stronger with age but remains challenged by backgrounds which are so contrastive and difference in their fathers’ worldviews’ intensity of disharmony between them. It deals with topics related to nationalism versus class divisionism, atheistic thoughts resulting into artistic ventures thereby symbolizing how life was for Riazi generation while growing up post 9/11 era.
The narrative shows how love and innocence may persist through war and loss using glass as metaphorical representations of fragile yet beautiful life forms. Further still interestingly it starts off with fully formed characters Vincent and Alliz then reveals bits of their pasts showing how their behavior was shaped at childhood.
At times the animation style itself almost looks like an ode to one of its influences namely Studio Ghibli the Japanese animation studio that has carved a niche for itself in the field. While some aspects of it are similar to other works from that genre particularly characterized by similar cultural styles, this movie sets itself apart due to its commitment towards providing Pakistani culture including architectural design fashion traditional folklore cooking etc magnificently.
Through animating Pakistan’s rich culture, one is able to see the country’s identity and tradition in a different way. Pakistani film industry and indeed representation of Pakistan on the wider stage cannot be the same after this remarkable cultural rendering by The Glassworker.
Usman Riaz is the director and an animator of this film, but also one of the founders of Mano Animation Studios that is Pakistan’s first hand-drawn animation studio. When he launched his studio, however, Riaz sought to use it as a platform to unite all creative and passionate people in Pakistan by organizing workshops in art schools and universities across the nation. There was no precedence in the making of animated films in Pakistan from drawings; nevertheless, this situation did not scare Usman Riaz when they were establishing their studio. No industry meant everything to them because “there are no rules” or limitations over their creative vision.
Mostly I grew up as British Pakistani where my culture was rarely represented with western animated films being my main watch. Thus, The Glassworker stands as a mean for better representation of South Asia in mainstream media. It is encouraging to hear about such a film which does not only show off Pakistani culture that we adore but also depicts some universally relatable themes or experiences. This film can therefore be embraced by many people worldwide with a view to closing cultural gaps and helping others genuinely appreciate what Pakistan has.
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