Arts
Bilal Sami is a Pakistani born filmmaker and screenwriter. Over a career spanning eighteen years he has produced, directed and written commercials, television shows, films, shorts, documentaries and has penned lyrics. Bilal was a Fulbright scholar to the U.S. at Ohio University for his MFA in Film. From 2010 to 2012 he worked for Partisan Pictures (NYC) on content produced for NatGeo, Discovery and the History Channel. In 2013 he collaborated with the acclaimed Pakistani musician and producer Mekaal Hasan on a short documentary series titled 'Dhun'. The documentary was featured at the Alchemy Festival at the Southbank Centre, London in 2016. From 2013 to 2016 Bilal also taught filmmaking at the School of Television, Film & Theatre at Beaconhouse National University, heading the department in his last year there. 'Dobara Phir Se' Bilal's first commercial Pakistani feature film which he wrote and helped produce for the acclaimed director Mehreen Jabbar was released worldwide in November 2016 to critical acclaim. In December the same year 'Stories We Tell' - a public art project that he undertook with the world renowned artist Rashid Rana, came to a conclusion with publication and exhibition at the Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore. Bilal has written lyrics for popular Pakistani musicians including Zeb & Haniya and Jimmy Khan for songs that have featured in the films Dobara Phir Se and Madras Cafe as well as on the popular Pakistani music platform Coke Studio. Bilal is currently producing a documentary on the life and work of the legendary South-Asian vocalist Farida Khanum, in collaboration with the writer and vocalist Ali Sethi. He’s also working on his second feature with the acclaimed director Amena Khan. Bilal lives in Lahore where he devotes his time to writing, making films and teaching filmmaking. http://bilalsami.net