The Glassworker (Urdu: شیشہ گر) is an upcoming Pakistani Urdu-language anime animated film directed by Usman Riaz.[1] It is Pakistan's first hand drawn animated film.[2] The teaser of the film was released in February 2016,[3] followed by a trailer in October 2016. It is being produced by Mano Animation Studios located in Karachi. The length of the film is 95 minutes.[4][5][6]
| The Glassworker | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Usman Riaz |
| Written by | Usman Riaz |
| Screenplay by | Moya O’Shea |
| Produced by | Manuel Cristóbal Khizer Riaz Alliz Espi |
| Starring | Sacha Dhawan Anjli Mohindra Art Malik |
| Music by | Usman Riaz Carmine Diflorio |
Production company | Mano Animation Studios |
Release date | 2023 (International) |
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Languages | English Urdu |
| Budget | 500,000$ (estimate/official figure unknown) |
The film is set to be released in 2023 (International) as described on the one pager of Mano Animation Studios on their website.
The story of the film set in Waterfront Town, revolves around a young boy named Vincent who works at his father's glass shop where he falls in love with a girl named Alliz, a gifted violinist who frequently visits the shop.[7]
English version voice actors:
Usman Riaz crowd sourced funding and raised $116,000 via a Kickstarter campaign.[8]
It has a team of about 30 people including 29 Pakistani artists and 1 Malaysian artist.[9]
Many buildings in the movie are inspired from the colonial buildings of the mega city Karachi. While in The town of waterfront, The bazaar is inspired from the empress market located in Karachi. The clothing of the Men in the movie have a lot of similarities of the clothing wore by the men in the Pakistani Province of KPK and Gilgit Baltistan while the women clothing is inspired from the national dress of Pakistan "Shalwar kameez"
“We started off very small and managed to gain momentum when we raised 116,000 dollars via a Kickstarter campaign,” explains Usman.
“We now have a team of about 30 people including local artists as well as experts in Malaysia, UK, USA, Canada and the Philippines to whom we outsource our work.”