Darling
Shani, a sixteen-year-old background dancer at an erotic dance theater in Lahore, is in love with an older transgender woman, Alina. As Alina prepares to audition for the spot of the new headline dancer, Shani struggles to find the right moment to confess his feelings. The film follows this unlikely couple and explores questions of gender, sexuality, and identity.
- USA, Pakistan
- 2019, 16 min
- Director: Saim Sadiq
- Director of photography: Mo Azmi
- Editor: Saim Sadiq
- Screenplay: Saim Sadiq, Rodney Llaverias
- Cast: Alina Khan, Abdullah Malik, Mehar Bano, Nadia Afgan
- Producer: Mahak Jiwani, Nadia Afgan
Saim Sadiq
Saim Sadiq is a Pakistani filmmaker with an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and a graduate degree in film directing from Columbia University. His short film Nice Talking to You was an official selection at South by Southwest 2019 and Palm Springs International ShortFest 2019, and won Vimeo’s Best Director Award at the 2018 Columbia University Film Festival. The film also made the BAFTA Shortlist for Best Student Film. He is currently working on his first feature, Gulaab, which was selected for the Open Doors Hub at the 2018 Locarno Film Festival. His latest film, Darling, is a short based on Gulaab and had its world premiere at the 76th Venice Film Festival.