Sarmad Khoosat bags Best Director for ‘Kamli’ at DC South Asian Film Festival

As the year 2023 draws to an end, it still has gifts in store for Pakistani director Sarmad Khoosat. In the heart of the American capital, Khoosat’s 2022 film Kamli has garnered him the Best Director award at the DC South Asian Film Festival. The film fest is an acclaimed annual cultural event in the Washington, D.C. calendar, featuring the year’s best additions to global alternative cinema from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and Sri Lanka.

Khoosat took to Instagram to announce his win, sharing a picture of the award, also shared as Instagram Story by the official handle for Khoosat Films. Fans and celebrities flooded the comments with congratulations and best wishes, including actors Sarwat Gillani, Tooba Siddiqui and filmmaker Jawad Sharif. Actor Omair Rana, part of the film’s leading cast, also praised Khoosat.

In November, Kamli achieved a historic milestone at the Minsk International Film Festival, clinching three prestigious awards. Saba Qamar secured the Best Actor Award, Khoosat earned the Best Director Award and the film received the Viewers’ Choice accolade at the renowned Listapad festival, the largest film festival in Belarus. Khoosat Films and the director himself celebrated the triumph on their official Instagram accounts.

Earlier in Mississauga, Canada, veteran actor Sania Saeed who essays the role of a blind woman, Sakina, in Kamli was awarded Best Actress at Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival (MISAFF). Aside from Saba, Sania and Omair, the film stars Nimra Bucha, Adeel Afzal, Iman Shahid, and marked Hamza Khawaja’s debut.

Khoosat’s 2019 film Zindagi Tamasha was Pakistan’s official submission to the 93rd Oscars in the Best International Film category and garnered global acclaim and multiple awards. However, due to protests by religious groups, the film faced difficulties in reaching local audiences despite receiving clearance from all three censor boards, prompting Khoosat to finally release the film on video hosting services such as YouTube and Vimeo on August 4, 2023