‘Salam’ docufilm on the science and life of Dr Abdus Salam, won the Raw Science Film Festival (RSFF) in Santa Barbara, California, US on January 6th, 2018. ‘Salam’ won 1st place in the category: Professional Documentary Feature > 60 minutes. ‘Salam’ is the debut production of Kailoola Prodctions. This year’s festival judges included eminent personalities, including Kip Thorne, 2017’s Nobel Laureate in Physics. The festival themed, “the bridge between science and media”.
‘Salam’ is a 60 minutes long documentary based on Pakistani physicist Dr Muhammad Abdus Salam, the renowned physicist who took home the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979. This film revolves around the life of Dr Abdus Salam in all its colors, vitality, and tragedy.
This winning video is a featured documentary about man who pass through two worlds with ease. One of science and religion, modernity and tradition, war and peace and obscurity and celebrity. This film draws the attention towards state of affairs in the world today, where knowledge is sacrificed at the dais of ignorance and intolerance, depriving the coming generation of all that is precious.
Reminiscing about how challenging it has been to produce ‘Salam’, the filmmakers told, “it took about twelve years of painstaking research, recce, amassing archives, restoring archives, filming, editing, animating and music composing. The research work and production were completed in 2012, but then more filming, more editing have culminated in roughly 75 minutes of content”.
“We are humbled and honored to have been recognized by a major science film festival, and recognition is going on”, they further added.
The film will continue to screen at festivals around the globe after which, the producers hope, it will be available to everyone on a popular online streaming portal.
Dr. Salam was not only a great physicist, he was the most influential scientific personality of the twentieth century. He was the only Pakistani Nobel Laureate of his time, but most unfortunately, marginalized by his own country. Dr. Salam was so much more than just a celebrity scientist.
Dr. Salam himself is heard stating in the film that “This is the scientific age. We cannot escape it. No one in the East can and no one in the West can”. The film comprises footage of Salam receiving the Nobel Prize, and from his life spent in the US, UK, Italy, and Pakistan; interviews from Salam’s family, friends, and colleagues, and Steven Weinberg, the famous American physicist who shared the Nobel Prize with Salam in 1979, and many other scientists.
Malala Yousafzai, the other Pakistani Nobel Laureate remarked on film, “I am delighted to know that a documentary is produced on the life story of the great Pakistani physicist. Dr Abdus Salam has been and continues to be an inspiration for children who have a passion for learning, discovering and inventing; the whole country is proud of his contributions. His story of brilliance needs to be told and amplified.”
Kailoola Productions was founded in 2004 to serve as a platform to inform the public on all aspects of science, particularly in developing countries where access is limited and huge information divides exist. The mission is to promote scientific knowledge, thought and inquiry through television and film. Kailoola Productions has started developing a film on famed neurosurgeon Dr. Ayub Ommaya another brilliant Pakistani who featured in the article “The Muslims who shaped America – from brain surgeons to rappers”, as their next project.
Raw Science Film Festival is the bridge between science and media. This festival honors films on science and technology throughout the globe. In this festival categories which include fiction and non-fiction for both students and professionals. Raw Science Film Festival offers stunning insights on how cutting-edge advances can furnish solutions for the greatest issues confronting our society.