Chongqing - As the SCO Film Festival 2025 enters its second day, the focus shifts to the FilmMart (July 4-6) in Yongchuan. Here, member states establish booths to promote collaboration, moving beyond the screen to foster cross-border storytelling and cultural exchange.

Pakistan movies are represented at the SCO festival on this great day. Ifran Malik, Senior Vice President of ARY Films, highlighted the festival’s importance for emerging markets. "Pakistan is not a very big market for cinemas," he acknowledged, "but China holds huge potential for us, primarily because of the relationship between both countries." He emphasized the deep people-to-people connection: "There's a lot of people-to-people love... although we don't understand each other's languages very well, I believe there's a lot of friendship there." His core mission is clear: "I want to bring Pakistani films here, showcase them in the best possible way, and see more Pakistani films released in China."

Pakistani actress Sonya Hussayn recently ventured into horror with Deemak, finding the experience "really exciting and scary at the same time, and a lot of fun." She sees global film festivals as vital springboards to international audiences, and the SCO platform resonates explicitly with the Pak-China friendship. "I want Pakistan and China to bring together and do something together on a bigger platform," she stated.