Pakistani-Norwegian filmmaker Iram Haq’s film ‘What Will People Say’ has been selected as Norwegian entry for the best foreign language film at the 91st Academy Awards.
‘What Will People Say’ centered round a 16-years-old girl Nisha, who faces numerous socio-cultural dissimilarities along her journey. Nisha was forced to leave her home in Norway and forced to live with her family in Pakistan when she was asked to learn her own culture.
Imran Haq in her interview with New18 said “When I started making the film, the most important thing for me was to tell a story in an utmost honest manner. And as an individual, I strongly believe that art is never a competition.”
“Of course, it is a big honour for me that my film has been chosen but I want to say that it is not possible to compete in art. Reaching out to people with a story is important,” she added.
The film is based on the filmmaker’s own life. “My parents are from Pakistan and they kidnapped me to Pakistan and I lived there for a year. So I knew that when I grow up I will tell this story in some way,” Iram said.
“I want to say that the story of the film is told with a lot of love but at the same time, it is a critical voice on how you shut down a young voice, or the voice of a girl, because she is a girl or because the individual is young. I am a strong believer of respecting young voice.”
The film is available for streaming on Netflix.
