KHAJISTAN
TM
Hi dear, I am Saad Khan. I am a filmmaker and archivist born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan, and now living in Brooklyn, New York. My latest documentary film is Showgirls of Pakistan. I am asking for your support for my independent archiving project, Khajistan.
Khajistan, established in 2017, preserves the cultures and creative works of the underclasses in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran through Khajistan Archive, Khajistan Radio, Khajistan Press, Khajistan Bazaar, and Khajistan Releasing.
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Much of the underclass in the region is represented by poor, queer/trans/Khwaja Sira, ethnic and religious minorities - including but not limited to the Pashtun, Hazara, Christian, Ahmadi, Baloch, and Jewish communities.
Khajistan believes that history should reflect the collective knowledge and art of all peoples. However, the wardens of history continue to be selective in what they deem acceptable and worth saving. Additionally, the modern nation-states which now form over peoples of south and south-west Asia are suffocatingly censorious to narratives not in line with some form of national culture.
Khajistan believes a national culture only upholds the moral standards of the class in charge. It is manufactured for the erasure of the lives and cultures of the indigenous and underclass peoples of these lands. We at Khajistan strongly believe that archiving should be done without judgments based on morality and politics. These biases leave out the lived experiences of the silent masses who are cut out from the expensive history writing and saving process.
Khajistan takes inspiration from the fierce survival and resourcefulness of the Khwaja Sira community of South Asia in particular. One of the oldest and most widely attacked communities in the region that despite being shut out of polite society and its institutions, shows how culture and customs can be retained and celebrated for centuries, through oral history and adopting a code language.
These communities have no time to document culture. They're caught up fighting for their own bodies, civil rights, and shelter.
The inclusion of their stories and works, along with the stories and works of other marginalized groups, is essential for the creation of an inclusive history; a history that is not only just representative of the lives, tastes, and morals of the ruling elite.
Khajistan is that history.
Thus far Khajistan has saved over 3,500 Lollywood and Pashto vinyl records, and over 5000 old Pashto, Punjabi, and Urdu film posters. We have digitized 378 Pashto, Punjabi, Farsi, Seraiki, and Urdu cassettes and 185 Pakistani adult and showbiz magazines from the 1950s - 1980s. We need funds to preserve, digitize, transport and book safe storage for these physical materials.
Another important thing to note is how climate change is destroying these artifacts. This past flood in Pakistan accounted for the loss of many old documents, already rusted and undigitized film cans, and “banned materials” that will never be recovered. Most collectors and artists are poor people and are living in conditions that are not safe from the devastation of climate change. Khajistan's archiving and preservation work has become a race against the clock.
Here are some projects for which we need your support:
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1. Loose Canons:
A holy bible of film reviews covering five decades of savory and unsavory, celebrated, and ignored regional Pakistani cinema by Omar Ali Khan.​
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2. The Real Colors of Filmic Fairies:
English edition of an independently published book by Urdu film historian, Khurshid Alam about the underbelly of Pakistani cinema, focusing solely on the origins of female actors in Lollywood.
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3. The Curse of Homosexuality:
English edition of a sermon delivered in 1986 and later published as a manual for madrassa teachers on how they can avoid being attracted to the students they teach.
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4. 500 Posters of Pakistani Cinema (1947 - 2018):
A collection of the 500 best Urdu, Pashto, and Punjabi film posters from our archives.​
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5. Challawa by Sabiha Bano:
An episodic lesbian autobiography published in 1970s Karachi.
6. Aurat Raj (1979):
An atomic bomb in a Pakistani village leads to the swapping of genders among its inhabitants. A fabulous scathing satire on Lollywood films and Pakistani life.
7. Adam Khor (1991):
Horrible hairy behemoth on a gruesome rampage in this wild Pashto shocker film.
Despite being fiercely independent and self-funded our work has never stopped and never will. We are driven by the need to keep more than one narrative alive for our current and future kids. So they can see themselves in these histories, their histories.
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Your support will help cover the publishing and distribution costs of five books and the re-release of two Urdu and Pashto movies. It will help us pay our expanding team of translators, subtitlers, designers, assistants, researchers, archivists, and editors.
By donating you will also be supporting us in keeping Khajistan Radio afloat on the internet.
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There's not one history, there are many. Please help us in recovering and preserving them by supporting our gofundme fundraiser, or donating directly using the links below. Thank you.
