FILUMS - International Film Festival, hosted annually by the LUMS Media Arts Society (LMA), is one of the largest film festivals in Pakistan. FILUMS has evolved to become a benchmark in the filmmaking industry, also crediting itself to be the largest film festival in South Asia and is on its way to becoming an independent nation-wide event. This mega event provides a platform for independent filmmakers from around the globe to come and showcase their film expertise. At FILUMS, the passion of films and the art of making them is celebrated, attended by people whose proficiency in this area is vast – including, but not limited to, renowned and capable producers, directors, actors, and camera operators. The media coverage, celebrity attention and foreign participation FILUMS receives is testament to the festival’s success and current standing. Despite its accomplishments, with every passing year, FILUMS aims to grow more, and surpass the success of the previous years in all aspects – media coverage, workshops, and audiences.

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Submissions at FILUMS are open in 7 categories this year, namely Shorts, Feature Films, Documentary - Short, Documentary - Long, Music Video, and Animation. A new addition to our traditional categories is the introduction of Student entries in the category: Rising Youth Films.

There are two stages of scrutiny before the films received at the festival can claim awards. Each entry is initially examined to be shortlisted among the best entries which are screened at the festival. These selected films are then forwarded to an external jury specially formulated for each category, and the final awards are given on the basis of the judgment given by the judges who are experienced, well-acclaimed, and considered to be the best authority in their respective fields.

One of the most important components of FILUMS is the workshops that are conducted by qualified professionals, many of whom have achieved a celebrity status. Such celebrities not only recount their learning experiences but also offer invaluable assistance in the form of well-seasoned advice. Workshops previously held at FILUMS have included a wide variety of topics, ranging from pre-production, post-production, film marketing to biographical accounts of members of the Pakistani Film Industry. We hope that such interactions will help several budding filmmakers and artists get access to bright opportunities in media and entertainment, while enabling others to find a direction to hone their creativity and skills.

Works premiered at FILUMS have gone on to earn special recognition such as ‘Seedlings’, which won the best film award at the NYC Film Festival, ‘Sapola’, a film made by Aleem Bukhari which has won the best foreign film award at the Lisbon International Film Festival, ‘Children of the Taliban’, ‘Like A Good Kid’, ‘Made in Pakistan’, ‘Kashf’, ‘Zibahkhana’, ‘Shanu’, ‘Taxi’, ‘Zindah Lash’, and many others.
Imagine a film you created being played in the esteemed halls of Lahore’s cultural district in an event that collaborates with Lahore’s own Art council and is attended by the very best in the field.
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FILUMS continues to expand its horizons with each passing year. Its journey spans from a small initiative 12 years ago, with around 50 regional participants, to an international platform of its current standing, with a record number of entries (more than 250 international and 500 national) in initial years and a total of over 300 entries in last year alone. Each year, the talent and creativity presented at FILUMS far exceeds that of previous years, and it is with such a pace that this nascent film festival is progressing towards its aim of becoming the central hub of a cinematic revival in Pakistan and abroad.

This year FILUMS will be hosting 3 categories on the LUMS Campus to promote local filmmakers, and the nature of the event being held locally will induce nationwide participation, bringing diversity and a cultural kaleidoscope of genres and films.