K2 and the Invisible Footmen: A Documentary Every Pakistani Should Be Proud Of

It would be wrong on my part to say that doc­u­men­tary mak­ing is a dying art in Pak­istan, for it nev­er real­ly blos­somed in our part of the world — it was nev­er tru­ly born. Our sen­si­bil­i­ties are lim­it­ed when it comes to this art form, for we have lit­tle under­stand­ing that doc­u­men­tary mak­ing is not sole­ly the domain of news chan­nels and sociopo­lit­i­cal prime time shows.

Giv­en these cir­cum­stances, it’s hard to under­stand that doc­u­men­tary mak­ing is an art form which is not all about putting togeth­er mechan­i­cal mon­tages, clichéd inter­views and re-enact­ments of zero aes­thet­ic val­ue. How­ev­er, despite this there are peo­ple who have man­aged to make inter­na­tion­al­ly acclaimed doc­u­men­taries in Pak­istan. The only prob­lem is that these doc­u­men­taries have not received the acclaim they deserved from Pak­ista­nis as they touched upon sen­si­tive issues which the aver­age cit­i­zen does not feel com­fort­able in con­fronting.

Filmed in the sum­mer of 2014, ‘K2 and the Invis­i­ble Foot­men’ is a doc­u­men­tary which should be a source of pride for Pak­istan, and here are a few rea­sons why:

1- High­lights the lives of the hard work­ing porters of K2

The porters of K2 are the peo­ple who trek all the way to the moun­tain base camp with at least 20 kilos of your lug­gage on rates that would make you cry. Iara Lee, the Brazil­ian film­mak­er and activist behind this doc­u­men­tary, made sure she con­veyed the lifestyle of these porters in the most dig­ni­fied way pos­si­ble. The por­tray­al of their lives not only fills you with pride for their hard work but also makes your heart ache for their lack of resources.

2- Aes­thet­ics and cin­e­matog­ra­phy

Cred­it for the amaz­ing cin­e­matog­ra­phy and aes­thet­ic val­ue of the film goes to Mr. Jawad Sharif – the cin­e­matog­ra­ph­er and edi­tor of the film who hails from our very own Islam­abad. Known for his focus on aes­thet­ics, Sharif has brought each and every shot to life. Even the inter­views do not seem bor­ing with all the beau­ty inher­ent in each shot. Jawad is Famous for his doc­u­men­tary on Sam­i­na Baig “Beyond The Heights”.

K‑2 & The Invis­i­ble Foot­men — Offi­cial Trail­er from Jawad Sharif on Vimeo.

3- Inter­na­tion­al screen­ings

The film has been screened at the Har­vard-Brown Fes­ti­val at Har­vard Uni­ver­si­ty around the same time that Sar­mad Khoosat’s ‘Man­to’ was also being screened there. From Brazil to Kaza­khas­tan, the film has not only had many screen­ings but also won many hearts and awards. In Pak­istan too, it has been screened twice in Lahore (at PIMFF and Khayaal Fes­ti­val) and once in Islam­abad (at Face Film Fes­ti­val). It is soon sched­uled to be shown in oth­er parts of the world, includ­ing Turkey, Spain and India.

The best part is that the film does not embroil itself in con­tro­ver­sies but focus­es on a sim­ple and real­is­tic por­tray­al of life. It’s filled with humour and the occa­sion­al cheek­i­ness of the porters, show­ing audi­ences the mighty K2 on the 60th anniver­sary of its first ascent. The film may make you cry and laugh, but above all it should make you proud of the won­ders that exist in Pak­istan.