`Hamain Ast’: Rizza Alee’s documentary wins Astoria Film Festival award in New York

Srinagar: A short documentary by a young Kashmiri filmmaker has won a prestigious award at Astoria Film Festival in New York.

Rizza Alee’s 11-minute film about snowboarding and winter sports in Gulmarg won the audience award.

Executive Produced by GoPro, the entire documentary was shot on an action camera.

 Titled Hamain Ast (It Is This), the film revolves around 54-year-old Kashmiri Firdous Ahmad Chaila who introduced snowboarding to the region.

 “The entire documentary tracks his journey of popularising this sport in Kashmir. This sport is slowly growing in popularity in Kashmir. Youth can hardly afford the equipment or training, but the thrill and sense of freedom and flight in sliding down the powdery slopes of the Himalayas provide them an escape from their challenging lives,” he said.

 The film is co-produced by award-winning Iranian-American filmmakers, Shidan Majidi and Alee; with an original soundtrack by Kashmiri singer/songwriter, Ali Saffudin.

 Alee said the film was shot in Kashmir during winter when the snowboarding sport is being played during winter games in Gulmarg.

 “It is an honor for me to bag this prestigious award in New York. We worked hard to execute this project during winter in Kashmir. This film features snowboarders and narrates their expectations from the sport,” he said.

 Alee said that he is planning to screen this film in Kashmir as well. “This film is about Kashmir and people should watch it. I am just planning to screen it in Kashmir as well so that more people take up snowboarding. The film will be available online at the Astoria Film Festival until June 30th. Link: filmfreeway.com/astoriafilmfestival,” he said.

 Twenty-two-year-old Rizza Alee is rapidly making a mark in the international arena. Last year, Alee co-produced and co-directed a documentary for Al Jazeera Media Network. His next documentary will be another co-production with an American media company exploring the growing state of mental health illness among Gen Z and Millennials of Kashmir.

 Alee who is a snowboarder and mountaineer has scaled many peaks including Stok Kangri. In 2019, he attempted to scale Mount Everest.