About the Film:

Flying Hands: In the middle of the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Aniqa Bano gives birth to a deaf girl, Narjis. Until then, she was unaware not only of the rejection and stigma attached to these girls, but also of their very existence, as they remained hidden due to the shame of their families. Sixteen years later, Narjis reads her mother's diaries, where she narrates the personal and social obstacles she has had to overcome to defend the dignity and rights of a group that had been condemned for centuries to not being able to have a full life. Not even a life as a human being.

Mother and daughter take us on a journey through the Baltistan region, where Aniqa has built both a school and a home for deaf people. There, they don't only receive education and respect, but discover a world of possibilities and rights to which they can aspire too. This story tells us of a commitment, of how integration and equal opportunities for everyone are a direct benefit to the coexistence of society. Aniqa has not only fought for the rights of her own daughters, but for the rights of everyone's daughters in her community, in a selfless way. Narjis changed the life of her mother, and Aniqa changed the life her daughter was doomed to.

Check out the trailer!

Why we're raising funds for an impact campaign:

Since we learned about Aniqa’s story, we have discovered the outreach of the barriers that people with disabilities face. We believe physicals are the only ones preventing them from being integrated in society. However, the main barrier they face is the social one.

With this impact campaign we want to defend equal rights and opportunities for deaf people, from the most basic to the broadest. From something as fundamental as being born and treated as a human being capable of feeling, thinking, loving, expressing and having their own
identity. To the right to have an education and even a vocation.

Where do we want to raise awareness:

● Society: This is the first wall they find. Neighbors, employees in the supermarket or in a restaurant they have to interact with. People who will one day interview them for a job and may judge them for aspects that have nothing to do with their abilities for that job. The perception of society is so important, in a way that we believe in the impact that cinema and culture can have. Through films like this one, through screenings, Q&A’s, talks or conferences we can bring debates that make us wonder how we relate to people with disabilities.

● Education: The system should support and promote adapted educational programs and teacher’s training in sign language. The integration of people with disabilities in schools helps normalize the coexistence with other children, therefore we contribute not only to their academic training but also to their ability to grow and set up emotional ties with the others (disabled or not) from a very young age.

● Family: This is the core. For us it’s very important to actively integrate parents in this campaign. We want to make them aware of the importance of believing in their children, in their
abilities and let them know about the different possibilities to provide them an education. Their support is key in the personal, emotional and intellectual growth of their children.

Our mission starts in Pakistan, but we want to extend it to the diaspora and the rest of the world.

Aniqa’s story takes place in a remote and specific place, but the problems it denounces and makes visible transcend the local.

First goal: $2000, to fund the strategy!
Second goal: $10,000 to launch the campaign!

About the Filmmakers:

MARTA GÓMEZ

Screenwriter, director, producer and script consultant. Since 2008, she’s a member of the selection committee for the script residency Plume & Pellicule (Switzerland). She has written fiction for film and television and collaborated in the areas of scriptwriting and production of projects in Spain, Australia, Central America and France. She has worked as a jury and advisor for Proimagenes Colombia , as well as professor of the MA in Creative Writing at the National University of Bogotá. An the beginning of 2020, she joined Al Borde films, where she co-wrote  and co-directed with Paula Iglesias documentaries such as Manufacturing Women or and Northern Wildness. Among her latest works we can find In Ruins, selected at festivals such as ZINEBI, Camerimage or New Orleans Film Festival and a candidate for best Documentary Short Film at the 2024 Spanish Academy Goya Awards, or “Flying Hands”, filmed in Pakistan, that had its World Premiere in Hot Docs, Toronto and is running for the Goya Awards 2025. Their last feature documentary  “Call Me Sinsorga”, will be released in 2025. 

PAULA IGLESIAS

Journalist, director and editor. Within her production company Al Borde films, they are committed to the co-direction of documentaries with social projects such as They’re Just Fish, a story about a fish farm in the middle of the Sahara desert that was nominated for the Goya Awards and recognised with the Zinebi Spanish Film Grand Award. With Blur and In Ruins they enter into non-fiction while in Northern Wildness they intertwine social story with visual poetry. Crisis of care, migration or refugees are some of the themes with which they have won selections at national and international festivals such as HotDocs, FipaDoc, Seminci or MiradasDoc. Ximinoa is one of her latest editing works, recognized with the Zinebi Basque Film Grand Award  or Flying Hands, filmed in Pakistan, that had its World Premiere in Hot Docs, Toronto and is running for the Goya Awards 2025. Their last feature documentary  “Call Me Sinsorga”, will be released in 2025.

FILMPACT!

Filmpact! is the impact partner for Flying Hands, fiscal sponsor for this campaign. Learn more about Filmpact!