SAAD
KHAN
Saad Khan is a Pakistani filmmaker, writer, and preservationist.
In 2020, Khan released Showgirls of Pakistan, at the International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) and online on The Shortlist on Vice. The documentary follows the lives of three mujra dancers in Punjab, Pakistan, as they dodge state censorship and violence to vie for stardom.
Before Showgirls of Pakistan, Khan was perhaps best known for his 2013 documentary Chuppan Chupai (Hide and Seek) about the Khwaja Sira people in Pakistan. In addition, Khan's 2017 short documentary, Qandeel, for The Guardian newspaper showed the life, death, and impact of Pakistan's working-class icon, Qandeel Baloch—murdered by her brother after becoming a social media celebrity.
Today, through his archiving project, Khajistan, Saad Khan continues to preserve the knowledge of sanctioned subcultures in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. Additionally, he serves as the executive producer at SAVTA, a post-production studio in Brooklyn, New York.