Sandstorm

Zara loves to dance. She’s good at it: flexible, precise, but above all, expressive. When the music plays, her body is a sensual instrument, even if day to day, on the streets of Karachi, she is obliged to keep it heavily covered. Conversations at school suggest that she associates this with the prejudices of the older generation. She doesn’t believe that her feelings and behaviour are in any way inappropriate, and it’s shocking to her that anyone her own age would see them that way.

Like many teenage girls around the world, Zara has connected online with a man a few years her senior, with whom she talks at length. he’s keen to meet, perhaps with just one purpose in mind, but she’s happy with the way things are between them, getting the attention she wants at no risk. They might not like each other any more if they meet, she says. Still, she’s naïve in some ways, and when he asks to see a video of her dancing, she sends it to him. It’s set to disappear, but he claims he still has it, that he watches it all the time; and when she expresses her discomfort, he does what men like him do all around the world, calling her a slut, reaffirming his desire to meet and saying that it would be a shame if the video were to leak.

The misery which comes from such treatment, and from being accused of trying to look sexy by a teacher who lectures the class on the importance of female chastity, is powerfully conveyed in this Oscar-qualifying short from London-based Pakistani filmmaker Seemab Gul. Whilst it’s perfectly clear what he’s after, the man perceives no hypocrisy in telling Zara that he likes women to be fully covered. She knows that he has no right to treat her like this, but finding the will and the confidence to resist is another thing entirely – until a sudden sandstorm changes everything.

In a feature, such a deus ex machina would be frowned upon. In a short, it’s more acceptable, not least because one might interpret it as very much an act of God, in answer to Zara’s unspoken prayers or as a sign of whose side He is on. It is also, of course, the force of nature which face coverings were originally worn to protect against, and being covered allows women to move through it with relative ease whilst the man is scourged. Beyond this, it seems to represent Zara’s silent fury, raging against the injustice of her situation. However one looks at it, it is a reminder that there are much greater forces in this world than laws made by men, and a clear illustration of their feebleness.

With a potent central performance supported by highly evocative cinematography and sound design, Sandstorm is a small film with a powerful voice.