The Government College University (GCU) this winter has been transformed into a magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the week-long Harry Potter festival commenced on Monday on the campus.
The university is hosting the festival till Dec 5 at which it will be screening Pakistan’s first Harry Potter fan movie titled The Last Follower and the Resurrection of Voldemort.
The event is taking place after a decade since the last Harry Potter film The Deathly Hallows Part 2 was released in 2011. The quest to find what happened in the world of Harry Potter years after Lord Voldemort dies is the inspiration behind the Khayaali Productions to make the film.
Khayaali Productions is run by a group of students from GCU. The film contains magical visuals shot at the gothic architecture of GCU. The film is being premiered exclusively at the Bukhari Auditorium from Nov 29 and will continue till Dec 5.
An alumnus of GCU, Waleed Akram, is the director, cinematographer, and editor of the movie.
As per Waleed, the goal behind introducing this new genre was to express the makers’ love towards the magical world of Harry Potter for the first time. Furthermore, he said that the fan-made movie also shows the potential of our youth who pulled it off with limited resources.
He shared that they had started working on the project back in 2018 but Covid-19 delayed some re-shoots.
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Zaidi said, “Our youth has immense potential and we just need to provide them opportunities, little guidance, and support.”
The main cast comprises Umer Darr, Jazib Akram, Mariam Hassan Naqvi, Talha Chahour, Dua Marium, and Sheikh Mubashir. The extraordinary visual effects are created by Zeeshan Hameed. Ibrahim Hassan is the associate director and productions head for the movie.
Apart from the screening of movies, the festival will be having Harry Potter experiential space at GCU Salam Hall, Harry Potter merchandise, food stalls, face paint and posters, and photo booths.
