Pakistani filmmakers Mahnoor Batool and Shahnawaz Ahmed Khan’s “The Emergency Exit” won the prestigious “Spirit of Doc Lab” award at Kathmandu Doc Lab. This accolade marks it as the only Pakistani film to receive an award this year at the festival.
“The Emergency Exit” is a testament to artistic courage, presenting a raw cinematic language that redefines how communities affected by geopolitical conflict are portrayed. For decades, global cinema has depicted Pakistan’s northwestern border regions, particularly war-torn towns like Parachinar, through a detached and cold lens.
These areas are often reduced in mainstream media and international films to mere locations defined by violence, military statistics, or tragedy. As natives of Parachinar, Batool and Shahnawaz challenge this external perspective with their film.
“The Emergency Exit” deviates from typical cinematography styles, focusing instead on the everyday lives of families, shared laughter over tea, resilient relationships, and subtle ways communities preserve humanity amidst constant uncertainty. The film’s emotional core is captured in its haunting teaser where a young boy explains his lack of fear due to violence: “If a missile comes, it will come. And if it hits this house, then what? At most, we will die.”
What sets “The Emergency Exit” apart globally is its innovative approach to non-fiction storytelling, eschewing standard documentary clichés for deep conversations under the guidance of boundary-pushing regional filmmaker Anam Abbas. Winning one of the top four prizes in a highly competitive South Asian film category from India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, “The Emergency Exit” surpasses fleeting festival accolades. It demonstrates that the most potent counter to such narratives is through hyper-local, unapologetic artistic truth. Batool and Shahnawaz have crafted a cinematic brilliance for Parachinar’s people, ensuring their lives are remembered not by surrounding violence but by the quiet, defiant dignity with which they lived.