Saim Sadiq is a Pakistani screenwriter and director who won the Jury Prize of the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section at the 2022

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

for directing the drama film ''Joyland'', the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes. ''Joyland'' also won the Queer Palm award during its world premiere at

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

Biography

Sadiq grew up in what he describes as a "middle-class, conservative family" in Rawalpindi. He attended St Mary's Academy in Lalazar, Rawalpindi. He graduated with a BSc with honors in anthropology from the

Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore University of Management Sciences, also known by its acronym LUMS, is a Private university, private research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1985, it is ranked as one of the most prestigious modern Li ...

in 2014. He obtained his MFA in Screenwriting and Directing from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 2019. His first short, ''Nice Talking To You,'' was an official selection at SXSW 2019, Palm Springs 2019, and was a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Shortlist for Best Student Film. He also won Vimeo's Best Director award at Columbia University Film Festival along with the Kodak Gold Award. For his Columbia film school thesis, he explored the world of trans dancers in the short ''Darling,'' which won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film in the 76th Venice International Film Festival. It was also the first Pakistani film to screen and win an award at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

and received special jury mention at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

and was an official selection at the 2019

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

before being acquired by Focus Features. Sadiq has said that his filmmaking has been inspired by his family, and by his discovery of a theater community in Lahore that is only a 10-minute ride from his childhood home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadiq, Saim Living people Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Pakistani directors Mass media people from Lahore Lahore University of Management Sciences alumni 1991 births Pakistani screenwriters