About the film

As Mehnaz and other women of Bhaagaowalla prepare for harvest season, they learn that their farmlands have been selected as a site for construction of a new coal power plant which would meet the needs of a nation in an energy crisis. While the men of the village decide to sell their land for monetary compensation, women start sensing changes in their environment. As the day of property transfer approaches, Mehnaz collects the identity cards of all men and burns them in a hope that it would stall the acquisitions only to learn that the nation's interest comes before theirs.

Nirmal Bano

Nirmal is a Lahore-based filmmaker who began her career in 2017 as a sound designer on TV projects, including Aakhri Station (2018), which addressed taboo social issues. She later moved into screenwriting, contributing to Zindagi Tamasha (2019), an internationally acclaimed film that won at Busan despite censorship challenges and was Pakistan’s Oscar submission. Her second feature, Gunjal (2023), depicted the story of child labour activist Iqbal Masih and received critical acclaim. Since 2023, she has directed short films including Republic of Wailing Trees and The Mother, the Sons, and the Holy River, blending fiction, documentary, and folklore. She also teaches film studies at NCA.