{"id":40361,"date":"2026-02-15T00:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T00:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=40361"},"modified":"2026-02-15T00:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T00:04:28","slug":"women-international-film-festivals-tenth-edition-opens-in-lahore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=40361","title":{"rendered":"Women International Film Festival’s tenth edition opens in Lahore"},"content":{"rendered":"
The 10th edition of the Women International Film Festival (WIFF X) opened in Lahore on Friday. It drew the city’s biggest-ever number of filmmakers, students, artists and cinema enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

The two-day festival, being held from February 14 to 15 at the Olympolo Theater Head Office, is showcasing women-led short and feature films from across the world. Nine films were screened on the opening day while a total of 23 films have been selected for this year’s edition. The festival is also taking place simultaneously in Islamabad where it has been organised for the past ten years.<\/p>\n

Organisers say the event reflects the city’s growing engagement with independent cinema and contemporary art practices.<\/p>\n

The Lahore edition of the festival is being produced by Bilqul, a production house led by British-Pakistani filmmaker Annusheh Rahim who was present at the opening day events.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Annusheh Rahim said the festival aims to provide a dedicated platform for women filmmakers who often struggle for visibility in the global film industry.<\/p>\n

“WIFF has always been about amplifying women’s voices in cinema,” she said. “Bringing the festival to Lahore was important because of the city’s cultural significance and its strong community of artists and students. The response on the first day has been extremely encouraging.”<\/p>\n

Rahim added that the festival is designed to create dialogue and learning opportunities rather than competition. “There is no single theme this year as the films reflect a wide range of subjects because women’s experiences are diverse. These stories deserve to be seen without being boxed into categories,” she noted.<\/p>\n

Films featured at WIFF X range from five to twenty five minutes in duration and explore themes such as identity, resilience, social pressures, personal freedom and cultural realities. This year’s selection includes films by women directors from Pakistan, Iran, South Korea, Australia, Turkey, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the Philippines and Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Alongside film screenings, the festival programme includes filmmaker question and answer sessions and panel discussions focusing on women’s representation in cinema and the challenges faced by female directors, particularly in conservative and male-dominated industries.<\/p>\n

A key highlight of the Lahore edition is a discussion session with filmmaker Zenith Irfan, widely known as Pakistan’s first woman to travel across the country on a motorcycle. Zenith Irfan will speak about her feature film ‘Motorcycle Girl’ and share insights into her journey of breaking social stereotypes through storytelling.<\/p>\n

The festival atmosphere was further enhanced by a dance performance by Manal Amer Khan that was appreciated by the participants while food stalls and a creatives’ networking mixer added to the event’s cultural appeal.<\/p>\n

Participants and attendees described the festival as both inspiring and educational. Wardah Ahmad, a university student attending the screenings, said events like WIFF X play an important role in motivating young women.<\/p>\n

“These films show that women’s stories matter and that filmmaking is not limited to one gender,” she said. “It gives students like us confidence to think seriously about creative careers.”<\/p>\n

Organisers believe WIFF X’s presence in Lahore will help strengthen Pakistan’s independent film culture by connecting emerging filmmakers with established professionals and audiences.<\/p>\n

With strong attendance on its opening day, WIFF X Lahore is being viewed as a significant addition to the city’s cultural calendar and a step forward in promoting inclusive storytelling within Pakistan’s film industry.<\/p>\n

It is important to mention here that the International Film Festival is the flagship event of Women Through Film based in Islamabad and founded by Madeeha Raza.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 10th edition of the Women International Film Festival (WIFF X) opened in Lahore on Friday. It drew the city’s biggest-ever number of filmmakers, students, artists and cinema enthusiasts. The two-day festival, being held from February 14 to 15 at the Olympolo Theater Head Office, is showcasing women-led short and feature films from across the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40361\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}