This film is available online only in Ontario.
Pakistan202467 minUrdu, Pashto, Hazaragi with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereAvailable Online
Situated in a modest retail complex in Quetta, Pakistan, is a small photo studio plastered with framed images of clients posing with women they don't know, guns they don’t own, and motorcycles they’ve never ridden. “Make it look real” is the instruction given to the photo studio owner, Muhammad Sakhi, who earnestly captures his clients’ desires and ambitions through staged, saturated, and heavily doctored photographs. Conversations between customers and Sakhi reveal that, although the photos may be fake, the desire and delight behind them are very real.
Serving as a portal to imagined realities, each photograph emerges as a reflection on ideas of gender expression, power, and success, revealing the delicate interplay between identity and longing. As documentary director Danial Shah builds an effortless bond with Sakhi, we’re invited into a welcoming space that offers a compelling observation of the empowerment and sense of freedom possible when identities are allowed to be constructed and reworked.
- Mariam Zaidi
OFFICIAL SELECTION
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, 2024
True/False Film Fest, 2024
Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, 2025
AWARDS
Jury Prize – Belgian Film, Festival En Ville, 2025
Danial Shah
Born in Quetta, Pakistan, Danial Shah works with the medium of photography and film and is currently pursuing an artistic PhD at Sint Lucas Antwerp and University of Antwerp. His debut feature film, Make it Look Real (2024), premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in 2024.
8 Nov, 2025 12:30 pm
TIFF Lightbox C3PG
This film is available online only in Ontario.
CONTENT ADVISORY
discussions of political violence
IN PERSON & ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is being presented with English subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated).
Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
This workshop spotlights the Sari-Sari Xchange Assetory, a storytelling-led virtual asset library prototype created with and for the Asian diaspora. Participants will be asked to bring an object with a personal meaning, which they will learn how to scan and create a 3D reproduction of. They will also be able to share what memories, stories, and histories the object holds and contribute to the SSX Assetory if they wish.
In collaboration with the Independent Media Arts Alliance, Reel Ideas will co-host a three-day mini-conference focused on artist advocacy, fair pay, and building an equitable arts ecosystem.
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Founded in Toronto in 1997, Reel Asian is Canada’s largest pan-Asian film festival and a year-round cultural organization dedicated to championing Asian, Asian diasporic, and Asian Canadian filmmakers and artists. What began as a grassroots film festival has grown into a national platform supporting filmmakers and audiences through screenings, education, industry initiatives, artist development, and community programming presented across Toronto, the GTA, and online across Canada.
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