By Ayesha Chundrigar

British-born Pakistani award-winning film director, Hammad Khan is receiving great recognition and praise for his film, Slackistan which showcases the lives of the upper class youth of today’s Pakistan.
The documentary-style drama explores the lives of twenty-somethings in modern-day Islamabad that very much mirrors life in the west. Slacking off, partying, and relationship dilemmas are at the heart of the movie and reflect on much of what Hammad, 35, saw while living in Islamabad during his teens.
Hammad has a lot of nostalgia for the city where he lived as a child before his father, a pro-democracy political activist, was exiled from Pakistan for several years during the martial law period.
He was curious and interested in how the young people in the country had changed since he left. Slackistan portrays characters that have personal dreams, intelligence and confidence but live like unmotivated slackers pursuing frivolous activities.
The film provides a glimpse into the lives of the children of professionals, politicians and businessmen who are essentially the future of the country. Hammad thought it would be more interesting to look at who will eventually inherit Islamabad rather than the poor or radicalised who have very little power.
Interestingly, Hammad never went to film school and is a qualified barrister by profession. But filming has always been his passion; he shot his first movie in Pakistan while he was still a teenager and has won many awards including the Emerging International Filmmaker Award at the Karachi International Film Festival.
Hammad is now an independent filmmaker. He says: “I work outside of the system, with my own camera and editing equipment.” Slackistan was made with no professional crew and he chose the Islamabadi cast mainly through their Facebook profiles.
The characters of Slackistan have very little or no acting experience and essentially play themselves or “Islooites” as the kids of Islamabad call themselves; small-town people with the mentality of Gossip Girl characters. Who was dating whom, what car their boyfriend drove and what crazy thing happened at the last party are typical worries for the Islooite.
Considering this film is the first of its kind to come out of Pakistan and is being well-received, Hammad is hopeful that the typical Pakistani song’n’dance genre of film will evolve dramatically in the next few years.
He never thought the film would become this big. Hammad said: “It was a bit of fun initially. I thought it would be a film that not many people would be interested in outside of my family and friends. The joke got out of hand a little bit, clearly.”
The award-winning director is now working on several more projects, all related to Pakistan

Slackistan is now showing in selected cinemas around England

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