City of Smiles

March 2, 2020 11:34 PM

Shehr-e-Tabassum (2020). Pakistan's first ever anime film about a dystopian cyberpunk future with Pakistani characteristics. 9 minutes long and with English subtitles.
posted by tavegyl (9 comments total)

The sound design and the color story are both outstanding. Chilling and beautiful, and although it pushes hard in every second I never felt so overwhelmed by the pacing as to turn away. There are so many details to catch in every moment, and I'm sure I missed more because I had to read the subtitles.

Is there any animation industry in Pakistan at all? I am curious about how long this took, how many people worked on it, who the different artists are, because it feels like the work of just a few voices and that's difficult in animation.

I'm really glad I watched this, I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for ages.
posted by Mizu at 12:49 AM on March 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

I really appreciated the choice of a more stylized use of animation, allowing for a little more looseness and a character viewpoint to the world, rather than the current trend of attempting to make world building look as "real" as possible. The various interactions the character saw and overheard provide ample suggestion in giving a deeper sense of both the cause and the cost of what even the relatively benign demand to smile might have compared to more apocalyptic imaginings that are common in dystopian animation. That the central character is a woman gives the demand to smile a incisive added edge to it as well.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:11 AM on March 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

this is fantastic... thank you
posted by kokaku at 5:09 AM on March 3, 2020

Is there any animation industry in Pakistan at all? I am curious about how long this took, how many people worked on it, who the different artists are, because it feels like the work of just a few voices and that's difficult in animation.

Some details from Karachista:

Arafat Mazhar is the writer and director of Shehr e Tabassum. He is also the founder of Puffball Studios, the production house that made Shehr e Tabassum.

Haseeb Rehman is the Lead Animator for Shehr e Tabassum.

Rasti Fraooq is the co-producer and co-writer for Shehr e Tabassum. She also voiced multiple characters in the film.

Puffball Studio is an interdisciplinary team of Pakistani artists, designers, writers, musicians, illustrators, actors and content creators who specialize in storytelling, music, animation and meaningful design.

posted by filthy light thief at 6:57 AM on March 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

That was well worth thee time to watch; thank you.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:32 AM on March 3, 2020

Nice
posted by eustatic at 7:50 PM on March 3, 2020

Is there any animation industry in Pakistan at all?

Pakistani Animation: Work in Progress
posted by bardophile at 8:43 AM on March 4, 2020

Excellent! Best of the Web.
posted by Rash at 6:15 PM on March 4, 2020

In Conversation with Arafat Mazhar
posted by bardophile at 8:46 AM on March 5, 2020