Mukand and Riaz

The story is set against the background of the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. But friendship between children knows no barbed-wire fencing: all children play games, enjoy ice cream and feel the loss of friends. Based on the memories of her father, animator Nina Sabnani made this film for the Big Small People Project, using the art of women’s appliqué work, common to both Sindh in Pakistan and Gujarat in India, to provide a rich and textured visual experience. The film won a certificate of merit from the Tokyo Broadcasting System, Japan. Mukand and Riaz is essentially about every child’s right to friendship and a home. Through shared memories, shared craft, and shared histories, it offers deeply moving layers of meaning with which to identify and from which to draw strength.