Zarrar Kahn

Zarrar Kahn

Zarrar Kahn, also sometimes credited as Hamza Bangash, is a Pakistani-Canadian film director and screenwriter, whose debut feature film In Flames premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, he spent part of his childhood there before emigrating with his family to Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He has continued to live and work in both countries, with most of his films being Pakistani-Canadian co-productions. He directed a number of short films in the late 2010s and early 2020s, earning a reputation as one of the most exciting new Pakistani filmmakers, before making In Flames. His films typically centre on characters who are struggling against their status as outsiders in Pakistan's conservative religious society, such as women, people with physical or intellectual disabilities, LGBT people or members of religious minority groups.