Synopsis

A young boy addicted to iFatwa, an app that crowdsources religious death sentences, spends his days swiping on the lives of strangers as he attempts to get a top spot on the Ajar Board.

Arafat Mazhar

Arafat Mazhar is the Director of Engage Foundation where 9 years of research came together in the seminal report, “The Untold Truth of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws,” recognized for its rigor by human rights groups and academics. In 2019, Arafat launched the animation studio, Puffball. Puffball Studio’s debut film was the highly acclaimed Pakistani dystopian short, Shehr-e-Tabassum. The film takes inspiration from lessons learned on censorship while researching Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws to tell a poignant story about fear and freedom in in Pakistan today. Puffball’s second animated film, Swipe, is a more direct confrontation of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, extrajudicial violence, and decreasing space for difference and expression.