Pakistani filmmaker has been recognized for insightful and captivating documentaries
Singapore-based Pakistani filmmaker Shehzad Hameed Ahmad’s documentary titled ‘Australia’s Coal Conundrum’ has won Silver at the prestigious World Media Festival 2021 in Hamburg, Germany in the Documentary Global Issues category.
Shehzad’s documentary focused on coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef due to rising greenhouse gas emissions from coal produced by Australian mines.
The award-winning filmmaker went underwater in northern Australia to film the dying corals. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half of its corals since 1995 due to warmer seas driven by climate change, a study has found.
Shehzad’s crew embedded with the Stop Adani movement in Australia and met the families who will bear the devastating effects of this coal-powered electricity generation.
Australia is one of the world’s biggest carbon emitters on a per capita basis and has faced sustained global criticism over climate policy.
Australia’s Coal Conundrum (Watch the documentary here).
The prestigious awards have been honouring and celebrating outstanding media solutions from around the globe for the past 21 years, covering audio-visual, print and online productions from areas such as information, education and entertainment.
Shehzad’s ‘Pakistan’s Himalayan Meltdown’ had only recently won the Green Image Award in Japan where he traversed the fastest melting glaciers in northern Pakistan to understand the effects of climate change and heatwaves.
The director has filmed documentaries across Brazil, Bangladesh, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Pakistan, Philippines, Afghanistan, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia and Nepal. Ahmad has previously won 6 New York Festivals awards.
His insightful and captivating documentaries ‘Caught in the Crossfire’ and ‘The Battle for Kabul’ won Silver awards in the Global Issues and Political documentaries category in 2020.
Pakistani filmmaker’s work has ranged on topics such as women’s rights, social issues, business and economics, investigations and filming in war zones like Afghanistan to the jungles of Poso, Sulawesi – embedding with many militaries in the most dangerous locations in the world.
His work has broadcast on TVF International, Toggle, Dawn News, National Geographic, TV Ontario, Channel NewsAsia and Crime and Investigation Channel amongst others.