Aqeedat Chishti

Aqeedat Chishti has storytelling in her veins. Her grandfather was a crime writer and poet, while her father is a well-known investigative reporter who has given his daughter firsthand experience as a journalist in the field.

And while Aqedat has many varied interests including writing, singing and performing, it’s film making where Aqeedat has really turned her attention. Her film Pathani, which beautifully captures life in a rural Pakistan village through the eyes of a young girl, was chosen as a finalist in Pakistan’s National Amateur Short Film Festival.

The prize was a scholarship with the New York Film Academy on the Gold Coast, a prize she shared with the NASFF’s 13 other competition finalists. For a young woman who had never travelled beyond the borders of her native land before, this Gold Coast experience has been truly transformative.