Showgirls of Pakistan
Saad Khan, 2020, Pakistan, 106 mins
With unprecedented access, this documentary intimately follows the lives of three showgirls living on the fringes of Pakistani society as working class women who have thrown respectability out the window: Afreen, a rising star in Punjab’s commercial theatre, Reema, a veteran, transgender stage dancer and Uzma, who dances at bachelor parties in rural Punjab in hopes of finding her way to Dubai. We find them locked in co-dependent relationships, fielding battles to safeguard their freedom and position in the precarious business, together with the constant threat of violence, censorship, and annihilation from the state and fans at any moment.
Saad Khan, 2020, Pakistan, 106 mins
With unprecedented access, this documentary intimately follows the lives of three showgirls living on the fringes of Pakistani society as working class women who have thrown respectability out the window: Afreen, a rising star in Punjab’s commercial theatre, Reema, a veteran, transgender stage dancer and Uzma, who dances at bachelor parties in rural Punjab in hopes of finding her way to Dubai. We find them locked in co-dependent relationships, fielding battles to safeguard their freedom and position in the precarious business, together with the constant threat of violence, censorship, and annihilation from the state and fans at any moment.
Saad Khan, 2020, Pakistan, 106 mins
With unprecedented access, this documentary intimately follows the lives of three showgirls living on the fringes of Pakistani society as working class women who have thrown respectability out the window: Afreen, a rising star in Punjab’s commercial theatre, Reema, a veteran, transgender stage dancer and Uzma, who dances at bachelor parties in rural Punjab in hopes of finding her way to Dubai. We find them locked in co-dependent relationships, fielding battles to safeguard their freedom and position in the precarious business, together with the constant threat of violence, censorship, and annihilation from the state and fans at any moment.