My films are motivated by a keen interest in highlighting issues that affect marginalized populations who are caught in difficult circumstances.

Fighting the Taliban and the various radical organizations on the front lines is like adding a Band-Aid to a cut, it may stop the bleeding but unless you clean it with antiseptic, the germs stay and multiply.

My films are motivated by a keen interest in highlighting issues that affect marginalized populations who are caught in difficult circumstances.

When the film and music industries declined in the wake of increasingly conservative Muslim laws and social customs in Pakistan, many of these musicians found themselves out of work. They were brought together at Sachal Studios by Izzat Majeed, who built the studio in order to preserve these musical traditions.

Working in any country where you want to talk about the kind of issues that other people don't want to talk about is difficult.

The young boys I speak with say to me: Why would I want to live in this world - where they rely on charity, dry pieces of bread and water, where they are subjected to harsh treatment, when they can be free and be the envy of their colleagues in the afterlife. They are only too eager to sign on the dotted line and join the ranks of the Taliban.

In terms of Saving Face, I was inspired by the stories of survivors who didn’t let their attacks stop them from pursuing justice and seeking treatment.