Kamran Faiq directed the short movie The Last Glance, which secured a spot on the 2028 Academy Awards longlist after securing the Jury Award for Best Short at the 21st Tasveer Film Festival in Seattle, running from October 13 to 18.
According to Faiq, his project stood out as the sole movie from the event to achieve this qualification. He noted that out of thousands of competing short films, roughly 200 manage to qualify.
Faiq pointed out that the movie has simply qualified to compete rather than securing an official Oscar nomination. Meanwhile, the crew is trying to secure an Oscar-nominated actor as an executive producer to help promote the movie during the upcoming Oscar campaign.
The plot centers on a household that must leave their village during the night hours to escape violence. The cast includes Adnan Shah Tipu, Areej Ayub, and Fahad Hashmi.
Faiq handled the writing, directing, and producing duties, while Umer Peerzada served as producer, Khalid Saeed Khan as executive producer, and Mike McNamara along with Armeena Rana Khan acted as co-producers.
Other international venues have also honored the project. It secured the Best International Short Film honor at the Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival located in Canada.
Faiq stated that The Last Glance made the cut as one of eight finalists for the short film lineup at the Asian World Film Festival based in Los Angeles. These finalists were chosen from entries originating in over 50 Asian nations.
These accomplishments point to increasing global attention on Pakistani directors, though reaching the Oscar longlist does not guarantee a final nomination.
