Hyderabad: Powerful screening of ‘Occupied’ sparks dialogue on Palestinian crisis

Director and Producer Pingle Pranav Reddy, in an intimate post-screening Q&A, shared the challenges of filming. This marked the pioneering entry of South East Asian Indian filmmakers into a Middle Eastern war zone.

Hyderabad: In a thought provoking event that drew in a diverse audience of film enthusiasts, political analysts, and advocates/activists for peace, a special screening of ‘Occupied’ was held on the October 29, 2023 in Prasad Labs, Banjara Hills. The award winning series is produced and directed by Pranav Pingle Reddy. Occupied is a riveting five-part web-series that documents the lives of young Palestinians debating the choices made and the paths walked while decoding a future that is equal parts promising and uncertain. It delves deep into the harrowing realities of war and the lives that have been shaped by the destruction.

The screening was attended by many, with the likes of Mahnoor Yar Khan, Anish Kuruvilla, Elahe Hiptoola, Ravi Reddy, Pingle Anuradha Reddy (Convenor INTACH). The aim of the special screening is to generate a much needed dialogue among people with regards to the ongoing crisis in Palestine.

---

Pranav and his multifaceted team of filmmakers visited the war zone in 2018-19. Prtihvi Chahal, the cinematographer, Arvind Menon who was handling the sound and is the editor of the series said, the aim is to help understand the plight of the Palestinians in such polarizing times.

Speaking on the occasion, Pranav Pingle Reddy the director and producer of the series in an intimate Q&A session after the screening, revealed the struggles behind filming the series and said that this was the first Indian contingent of filmmakers from South East Asia to go and film in a Middle Eastern war zone. He also felt that this was a proper time to showcase his series so he can contribute to a broader conversation and dialogue about the consequences of war.