(Umar Saeed, Pakistan, 2016, 9 min, in Urdu)

Three brothers are changing their future by studying and at the same time collecting and selling garbage in Lahore, Pakistan to fund their futures. The Learning Alliance is a portrait of children with dreams and their struggle towards achieving them.

Director’s Bio: After graduating in film production, Umar started producing documentaries and short films which have been screened in many reputable film festivals around the globe. Umar was the part of Sesame Street production in Pakistan (A project by USAID). He is also curating and programming film festivals in Lahore. The Learning Alliance is his latest documentary.

(Lipika Singh Darai, India, 2016, 20 min, in English)

The Waterfall traces the evolution of a young city boy, as he comes to appreciate the value of the environment and think critically about climate change and development.

Director’s Bio: Lipika Singh Darai is a filmmaker based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. An alumnus of the Film & Television Institute of India, she specialized in film sound recording and is also an avid film editor. She has won four National Film Awards (India) in various capacities. Her films are characterized by a strong personal narrative style. Her work has been shown in various international and national film festivals. She is currently making a feature length documentary on the puppeteer communities of Odisha, produced by Films Division, India.

(Ali Sohail Jaura, Pakistan, 2018, 22 min, in Urdu)

After the death of her parents, Erum (Saboor Ali) goes on to spend her childhood with her loving grandfather (Qavi Khan). The two live happily together until it is time for Erum to pursue studies abroad, and the two bid farewell to each other with heavy hearts, promising to keep in touch through letters. Erum’s life abroad moves further and further away from her grandfather, until she receives a letter from him one day, and realizes it is time for grandfather’s little sparrow to return to her nest.

Director’s Bio: Ali Sohail Jaura was born in 1994 in Karachi, Pakistan. He started his film-making education by joining Iqra University, Pakistan in 2012 in undergraduate Film & TV program. His debut short film Prohibited won numerous International awards around the globe in 2015. His recent achievement is International award-winning travel film Arz e Pakistan which has already bagged six International awards in India, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Spain and Latvia. The film has been screened in several International Tourism Film Festivals during the year 2017.