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The festival began with an exclusive opening night on October 2. It featured special screenings of nine independent short films from France, Canada, Iran, Brazil, China, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Peru.
Kiran Murad opened the festival and thanked its sponsors, including UBL, Candi Biscuit, Candyland, Olper’s Diary Tea Creamer and Vatika.
GIFF Producer 2026 Beenish Umer also thanked the festival’s industry partners. They included Epic Pictures, Sharp Image, Hot Water Bottle Films, Bionic Films, Tallman Films, Y Productions and What’s Next.
Afreen Zehra, Head of Media & Communications, highlighted the festival’s partnerships. Karachi Film School serves as the Educational Partner, while NAPA is the Venue Partner.
Talking Point is the PR Partner, See Prime is the Strategic Partner and ARY Plus OTT is the official Streaming Partner.
GIFF received around 6,000 films from around the world this year. The submissions included entries from Pakistan.
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The festival selected 60 films for its digital edition. The lineup featured seven foreign-language feature films, 25 foreign-language short films and 28 Pakistani short films.
The digital edition streamed on ARY Plus OTT and the GIFF website from September 18 to September 30.
The on-ground edition at NAPA features 28 independent films. These include 19 foreign-language short films and nine Pakistani films.
The selected films explore themes including family heritage, creative blocks, relationships, identity, motherhood and social issues.
The opening night began with a red-carpet ceremony. Guests then moved to the Zia Mohyeddin Theatre for the film screenings.
The GIFF founder reflected on the festival’s growth from a small initiative into an internationally recognised independent film platform.
The founder said GIFF began with no dollar budget but received a major investment of passion, commitment and hard work.
The founder also thanked filmmakers, audiences and supporters who contributed to the festival’s development over the past six years.
NAPA CEO Jarri Masood Zaidi welcomed guests at the opening ceremony.
He said NAPA provided an appropriate setting for the festival because the institution views performing arts as more than entertainment.
Zaidi said cinema can help audiences understand themselves, question the world around them and imagine different possibilities.
He also shared a message from NAPA Chairman Syed Jawaid Iqbal. The chairman congratulated the GIFF team for organising the festival successfully each year.
He described the relationship between NAPA and GIFF as a shared commitment to artistic excellence.
GIFF 2026 will continue through Sunday with international and Pakistani films.
The programme also includes question-and-answer sessions with filmmakers. An award ceremony will take place on Sunday night.
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