Iram Parveen Bilal

Iram Parveen Bilal is a Pakistani-American filmmaker and entrepreneur. In 2012 her first feature film Josh: Independence Through Unity debuted at the Mumbai Film Festival.[1]

Iram Parveen Bilal
Born
Iram Parveen Bilal

Pakistan
Alma materCalifornia Institute of Technology, University of Southern California
OccupationFilmmaker
Known forJosh: Independence Through Unity (film)

Early life

Bilal was raised in Pakistan, she came to America to study at the California Institute of Technology. She graduated with her B.S, honors, in Environmental Science Engineering. Upon graduating, Bilal was awarded a unique opportunity with the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, a travel fellowship grant that took her around the world.[2]

She was the inspiration behind Kareena Kapoor’s character name in the movie Agent Vinod.[3][4]

Career

Filmmaker

Bilal began her career in film by getting her M.F.A. at the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California. Her most recent film Josh: Independence Through Unity is a mystery thriller set in Karachi that follows an upper class woman who becomes determined to find out what happened to her missing caretaker. Her journey takes her to a nearby village run by a feudal lord, and in the process endangers herself and others. The story tackles themes of feudalism, youth movements, poverty, and the challenges of trying to do good amidst social unrest.[2]

Other feature projects in development have received attention by IFP, The Academy’s Nicholl Writing Fellowship, Mumbai Sankalan Lab, Film Independent and Women In Film. Prominent awards and honors include the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, Stark Special Project Scholarship,[5] Mabel Beckman Leadership Award, Paul Studenski Fellowship and the Dean’s Cup. In March 2013, she was asked to give a TedX talk entitled "Get Uncomfortable Now" at Caltech.[6]

Qalambaaz

In 2014 Bilal initialed Qalambaaz, a platform that provides mentors and nurtures the growth of screenplay writers through competition. The screenplay writing competition was recently launched at The Second Floor (T2F) under Bilal's banner Parveen Shah Productions.[7] Bilal clarifies that the platform does not promise funding for filmmakers, but guarantees a final product that can be sold as a possible feature film production.[8]

Filmography
Year Title Notes
1 2007 Marwa Director Short Film
2 2010 Poshak/Facade Writer, Editor, Director & Producer Short Film
3 2012 Kwaku Ananse Writer Short Film
3 2013 Josh: Independence Through Unity Writer, Director & Producer Feature length film.

Screened at 14th Mumbai Film Festival

4 2015 Dho Dala: The Sin Washer Writer, Editor, Director & Producer Short Film
5 2015 Piled Higher and Deeper: Still in Grad School Director
6 2017 Extinction Editor, Director & Producer Short Film[9]
7 - Forbidden Steps Writer, Director & Producer

References
  1. "Biography". Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  2. "Caltech Alumni". Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  3. "Meet the real Iram Parveen Bilal - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  4. "Ushering in the New-Wave of Pakistani Cinema: Iram Parveen Bilal - The Review Monk". The Review Monk. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  5. "Iram Parveen Bilal". IFFR. 2015-09-04. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  6. "Ted Conferences". Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  7. "The Story Exchange". Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  8. Qamar, Saadia. "Qalambaaz: In search of the perfect screenplay". Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  9. Siddiqi, Aiman (2016-09-18). "Iram Parveen Bilal's Extinction takes a dig at Donald Trump". HIP. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
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