Pakistani short film Permanent Guest to premiere at TIFF today

WEB DESK: Pakistani short film, Permanent Guest (Mustaqil Mehmaan), written and directed by Sana Jafri, will have its world premiere today at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It is the only Pakistani entry at this year’s edition, which also marks TIFF’s 50th anniversary.

Set in Lahore, the film follows Fatin, a 26-year-old woman preparing with her mother Yasmeen for a neighbourhood wedding. Their plans are unsettled by the unexpected arrival of Fatin’s 70-year-old uncle, Shabeer, whose presence revives painful memories and lays bare the silence that has long weighed on the family.

Featuring Rasti Farooq, Nadia Afgan, Salman Shahid, Ali Tahir and Hiba-i-Zahra, the film examines the long-lasting effects of childhood sexual abuse within South Asian households, a subject rarely explored on screen with such intimacy. According to its director, Permanent Guest is a “quiet confrontation” between two generations: elders who normalised silence and younger women who continue to bear its consequences.

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“Through this film, I wanted to explore the long, often invisible shadow that childhood sexual abuse casts within South Asian homes,” Jafri said in a statement. “It’s about the trauma itself, but also the culture of denial that surrounds it, and how survivors carry that silence, often in isolation. My hope is that Permanent Guest opens a space for acknowledgement, discomfort, and maybe even healing.”

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The film was independently produced through crowdfunding, drawing support from within Pakistan and diaspora communities abroad. With no institutional or commercial backing, the project reflects the resilience of the country’s independent film scene. “Permanent Guest is proof that Pakistani audiences, especially women, are hungry for stories that reflect their truths, raw, unfiltered and deeply personal,” Jafri added.

Jafri previously worked as co-producer and casting director for Joyland, the Cannes-winning film that put Pakistani cinema on the global map. With Permanent Guest, she becomes the first Pakistani woman to premiere a short film at TIFF.

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Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames was also featured at TIFF in 2023 while only two Pakistani shorts, Saim Sadiq’s Darling and Zarrar Kahn’s Bhai, have previously been screened at the festival.

The selection of Permanent Guest continues that legacy, underscoring the growing recognition of Pakistani stories on the international stage.

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