Dagh Dagh Ujala (This Stained Dawn)

Feature Documentary
Produced and Directed by Anam Abbas

Editor: Omar Majeed
Animator: Aziza Ahmed
Original Score: Rahema Alam
Vocals: Aliya Rasheed
Narration: Kulsoom Aftab

Distributed by Journeyman

Request Screening in Canada

Watch now:

A feature documentary that explores the current feminist movement in urban Pakistan through the eyes of women organizers of the Aurat March (Women’s March) as we countdown to the event, when 10,000 protesters gathered in Karachi on 8th March 2020. We follow the organizers as they negotiate through a deeply surveilled, paranoid, and threatening environment in the hopes of a revolution. We find a tightly knit community of young womxn in Karachi who are changing the face of their city and its culture through their sometimes quiet, sometimes raging resistance.

Observational footage of the organizers of the 2020 March is supported by animation and archive that trace a history of state suppression of women’s resistance in Pakistan and illuminate the urgency of the unfolding struggle of today.

Press

Sheffield DocFest 2021 with Simran Hans, Cíntia Gil & Anam Abbas

Girls On Film

‘This Stained Dawn:’ How Director Anam Abbas Captured a Women’s March and the Broader Feminist Movement in Pakistan

AwardsDaily

Sheffield DocFest interview: This Stained Dawn by Anam Abbas

Business Doc Europe

‘This Stained Dawn’ post-screening discussion between director, Anam Abbas, and protagonist Laila Raza

Other Cinemas

Sheffield International Doc Film festival- International Competition Nominee 2021
Yamagata International Films Festival- New Asian Currents Competition Nominee 2021
Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival- Truth to Power Award winner 2021
Dharamshala International Film Festival 2021
Screening Rights Film festival, 2021
Which Human Rights? Film Festival (Documentarist) 2021
Dhaka International Film Festival 2022
Human rights Watch San Diego, 2022
Victoria Film Festival, 2022
Women’s Voices Now – Tom Lantos Best Human Rights Documentary Award Winner
Film Southasia- 2022
L.A.Asian Pacific Film Festival 2022
Northwest Fest International Documentary Festival , 2022
Chicago South Asian Film Festival 2022
Aichi International Women’s Film Festival 2022 (Nagoya
city)- 2022
Chalta Phirta Film Festival (Pakistan) 2023
South Asian Film festival of Montreal -2023
Aube Film Festival (Basel)-2023
Beyond Borders Feminist Film Festival (New Dehli)- 2023
South Asian Doc Fest )Windsor – 2023
Auroville Film Festival- Jury Award- 2024
Feminist Active Documentary Video Festa (Yoyogi
Uehara, Tokyo) – 2024
International Women Make Sister Waves Film Festival
(Toyonaka City, Osaka)- 2024