The Line of Freedom | |
---|---|
Directed by | David Whitney |
Written by | David Whitney |
Produced by | Aly Doshambe Bhawal Mengal Noordin Mengal Waqqas Qadir Sheikh David Whitney |
Starring | Antonio Aakeel Mansoor Alfeeli Fatima Al Taei Tony Hasnath Omar Malik Nitin Mirani Omar Bin Haider Ibrahim Renno |
Cinematography | Russell Nabb |
Edited by | Emma Collins |
Music by | Neil Haggerty |
Production company | DWF Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes [1] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Line of Freedom is a 2013 political drama film directed and produced by David Whitney and starring Antonio Aakeel. The film had its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2013. [2] It was instantly banned in Pakistan due to the controversial depiction of its security forces and subsequently contributed to a national ban of the Internet Movie Database. [3] [4] The film has sparked a backlash from some titling it "anti-state propaganda" and resulted in its star Antonio Aakeel, and others who had helped in the production allegedly receiving death threats. [5]
The film depicts the kidnapping of an activist by the Pakistani Army, his subsequent torture at their hands, and a failed attempt at executing in a desert location.
The film follows the true story of Nasir Baloch, a young student rights activist murdered by the Pakistani Army in 2011 as part of their 'kill and dump' policy in Balochistan, southwest Pakistan. [6] [7] Nasir Baloch is abducted and tortured by his country's security forces. Days later, he is shot and left for dead in the desert, but incredibly survives to tell his story.
The Line of Freedom was developed by DWF productions with UNPO human rights ambassadors Noordin Mengal and Bhawal Mengal. The film was shot in September 2012 at an undisclosed location somewhere in the Middle East. [8]
A short version of the feature was released online in 2013. [9]
Ataullah Mengal was a Pakistani politician and feudal figure. He was the head of the Mengal tribe until he nominated one of his grandsons, Sardar Asad Ullah Mengal, as his tribal successor. He was also the 1st Chief Minister of Balochistan during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's premiership from 1 May 1972 to 13 February 1973. He died on 2 September 2021 in Karachi.
The Balochistan National Party or Balochistan National Party (Mengal) (Urdu: بلوچستان نيشنل پارٹی ; Balūcistān Nēśanal Pārtī ) is a political party in Balochistan, Pakistan. BNP believes in more provincial rights and greater autonomy for Baluchistan province through peaceful and democratic struggle.
Jamal Shah is a Pakistani actor, director, musician, writer, sculptor, painter, and social activist. He has also served as the Federal Minister of Culture in Kakar cabinet.
The Wali Khan faction of the National Awami Party was formed after the 1967 split in the original NAP between Maulana Bhashani and Abdul Wali Khan. The Wali Khan faction was later named National Awami Party (NAP) after the independence of Bangladesh.
Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo was a Pakistani politician from Balochistan. He served as the 3rd Governor of Balochistan.
The Insurgency in Balochistan is an insurgency or revolt by Baloch separatist insurgents and various Islamist militant groups against the governments of Pakistan and Iran in the Balochistan region, which covers the Pakistani province of Balochistan, Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and Balochistan of southern Afghanistan. Rich in natural resources, this is the largest, least populated and least developed province in Pakistan and Iran, and armed groups demand greater control of the province's natural resources and political autonomy. Baloch separatists have attacked civilians from other ethnicities throughout the province. In the 2010s, attacks against the Shia community by sectarian groups—though not always directly related to the political struggle—have risen, contributing to tensions in Balochistan. In Pakistan, the ethnic separatist insurgency is low-scale but ongoing mainly in southern Balochistan, as well as sectarian and religiously motivated militancy concentrated mainly in northern and central Balochistan.
The Fourth Balochistan Conflict was a four-year military conflict in Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan, between the Pakistan Army and Baloch separatists and tribesmen that lasted from 1973 to 1977.
Brahamdagh Khan Bugti or Brahumdagh Khan Bugti is the founder and leader of the Political Organisation Baloch Republican Party, a Baloch nationalist group which broke away from his uncle Talal Akbar Bugti's Jamhoori Watan Party in 2008. He is the grandson and tribal successor of Nawab Akbar Bugti, former chief minister and governor of the Balochistan province. He campaigns for the rights of Baloch people around Europe. As of 2018, he was living in self-imposed exile in Switzerland.
Akhtar Mengal is a Pakistani politician from Balochistan who is the chairman of Balochistan National Party (Mengal). He is also serving as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since February 2024. He previously served as the Chief Minister of Balochistan between 1997 and 1998 and later as a member of the Balochistan Provincial Assembly. Mengal also served as a member of National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till August 2023.
The Baloch Students Organization is a student organisation that campaigns for the students of Pakistan's Balochistan Province. It was founded as a student movement on 26 November 1967 in Karachi and remains the largest ethnic Baloch student body in the country. It got divided due to ideological differences. BSO Pajjar and BSO Mohiuddin are affiliated with the parliamentary framework of Pakistan. Dr Allah Nazar, founder of pro independence wing, in 2002 while he was studying in college, created a breakaway faction — BSO–Azad — that advocated struggle for an independent Balochistan based on pre-colonial Baloch country. The Pakistani government banned the BSO Azad on 15 March 2013, as a terrorist organisation.
Gul Khan Naseer also known as Malek o-Sho'arā Balochistan ; 14 May 1914 – 6 December 1983) was a Pakistani politician, poet, historian, and journalist from Balochistan. Most of his work is in Balochi language, but he also wrote in English, Urdu, Brahui and Persian.
There are or have been a number of separatist movements in Pakistan based on ethnic and regional nationalism, that have agitated for independence, and sometimes fighting the Pakistan state at various times during its history. As in many other countries, tension arises from the perception of minority/less powerful ethnic groups that other ethnicities dominate the politics and economics of the country to the detriment of those with less power and money. The government of Pakistan has attempted to subdue these separatist movements.
Mir Noor-ud-din Mengal was a prominent Baloch Pakistani politician who played a significant role in Balochistan's political landscape for nearly four decades, from 1970 to 2010.
Human rights abuses in the province ofBalochistan refers to the human rights violations that are occurring in the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. The situation has drawn concern from the international community. The human rights situation in Balochistan is credited to the long-running conflict between Baloch nationalists and Pakistani security forces.
Malik Siraj Akbar is an ethnic Baloch journalist based in the United States. He is the editor-in-chief of the Baluch Hal, the first online English language newspaper of Pakistan's Balochistan Province, Enkaar, a liberal Urdu language news magazine, and a contributing writer for The Huffington Post. He lives in exile in the United States.
Baloch Americans are Americans of Baloch descent.
Antonio Aakeel is an English actor, known for his leading role in the 2018 comedy film Eaten by Lions, for which he was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow by Screen Daily. He also appeared in Tomb Raider and the BAFTA award-winning series Three Girls.
Balochi cinema refers to the Balochi-language film industry in Pakistan, Iran, and among the Baloch diaspora.
Noora Mengal Urdu was a Baloch freedom fighter of Jhalawan (southern) Balochistan, Pakistan who continuously fought against British dominance for nine years. His full name was Noor Muhammad Pahlwanzai Mengal. He was the head of Pahlwanzai subcaste of the Mengal tribe of Pallimas Valley Wadh District Khuzdar Balochistan.
Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Sultan Mohammed Khan Mengal was the oldest Pakistan Army veteran. He joined the British Indian Army in 1941 and was commissioned in the 5th Baluch in 1942. Following the independence of Pakistan, he joined Pakistan Army and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1967. He died on 26 September 2021 in Quetta and was 103 years old at the time of his death.