Original Film Title: Lyari – Survival of the Fringes
Directors Name: Luc Bellon
Writers Name: Luc Bellon
Producer: Luc Bellon
Country of Origin: France
Country of Filming: Pakistan
Language: Baluchi, Urdu
Runtime: 1 hour 4 minutes 20 seconds
Film Description:
Lyari is the oldest district of Karachi, Pakistan’s enormous megalopolis. It is here that a marginalized community use donkey-cart racing to escape deadly urban violence and build a world on society’s fringes. All of Pakistan’s social, economic and political tensions converge in the city of Karachi. Lyari has been the theatre of armed conflicts that have claimed thousands of lives. In the midst of this violence and instability, Lyari managed to create a unique musical and poetic scene, to promote sports activities and to invent the donkey-cart race. Donkey carters play a key economic role in transporting goods arriving at Karachi’s massive seaport. But being associated with donkeys degrades their status at the lowest levels of society. By focusing on them, the film investigates how Lyariites not only survive in this hostile environment, but reverse the stigma to build a world that restores their dignity.