Oct 1, 2024

Pakistan to Present Traditional Animated Feature “The Glassworker” at the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film

Pakistan is the second country this year to officially enter an animated feature film in the International Feature Film Competition at the 97th Academy Awards, following Latvia, which entered “Flow.

Pakistan's submission is “The Glassworker” by Usman Riaz, the first traditional 2D animated feature film produced in Pakistan. Inspired by Ghibli films, the 98-minute film had its world premiere in Competition at the Annecy International Film Festival last June and is touring the festival circuit, including Hiroshima and the upcoming Sitges International Film Festival. It was also released theatrically in Pakistan in July.

This Romeo and Juliet-esque tale of an aspiring violinist and a glassblower who falls in love with a young aspiring violinist against a backdrop of impending war and ideologically conflicted fathers is a film about a young man who is in love with a glassblower who is in love with a young man who is in love with a violinist.

Produced by Mano Animation Studios, founded by Riaz with Kizer Riaz and Mariam Riaz Paracha. Veteran Spanish producer Manuel Cristobal (“Buñuel's Labyrinth”) is in charge of production. U.S. distribution has yet to be determined.

Cartoon Brew interviewed Rias, Cristobal, and other crew members in Annecy in 2022, while the film was still in production, to discuss the difficulties of producing an ambitious hand-drawn feature film in a country without a rich history of classic 2D animation on such a scale. They explained the challenges of producing an ambitious hand-drawn feature film in a country without a rich history of classic 2D animation on this scale. The interviews can be viewed at:

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