Since we learned about Aniqa’s story, we have’ve discovered the outreach of the barriers that people with disabilities face. We believe that physicals are the ones preventing them from being integrated in society. However, the main barrier they face is the social one.

With this impact campaign we want to defend equal rights and opportunities for deaf people, from the most basic to the broadest. From something as fundamental as being born and treated as a human being capable of feeling, thinking, loving, expressing and having their own identity. To the right to have an education and even a vocation.

Where do we want to raise awareness?

• Society: This is the first wall they find. Neighbors, employees in the supermarket or in a restaurant they have to interact with. People who will one day interview them for a job and may judge them for aspects that have nothing to do with their abilities for that job. The perception of society is so important, in a way that we believe in the impact that cinema and culture can have. Through films like this one, through screenings, Q&A’s, talks or conferences we can bring debates that make us wonder how we relate to people with disabilities.
• Education: The system should support and promote adapted educational programs and teacher training in sign language. The integration of people with disabilities in schools helps normalizing the coexistance with other children, therefore we are contributing not only to their academic training but also to their ability to grow and establish emotional ties with the others (with disabilities or not) from a very young age.
• Family: This is the core. For us it’s very important to actively integrate parents in this campaign. We want to make them aware of the importance of believing in their children, in their abilities and let them know about the different possibilities to provide them an education. Their support is key in the personal, emotional and intellectual growth of their children.

Our mission starts in Pakistan, but we want to extend it to the diaspora and the rest of the world.

Aniqa’s story takes place in a remote and specific place, but the problems it denounces and makes visible transcend the local.

SYNOPSIS: In a remote mountain range in Pakistan, Aniqa Bano gives birth to a deaf girl, Narjis. Suddenly, a world of stigma and prejudice is revealed, in which a raft of social obstacles need to be navigated. Nearly two decades later, Narjis reads her mother’s diaries and narrates a journey through the Baltistan region, where Aniqa has built a school and a home for deaf people. The fight for the rights of her own daughter is coupled with the fight for the rights of everyone in her community. Here, they not only receive education and respect but also discover a world of possibilities and rights to which they can aspire. Delicately explored and deftly crafted, Flying Hands is a story of commitment and how integration and equal opportunities for everyone directly benefit the co-existence of society. Directed by Marta Gómez and Paula Iglesias.

Screening and Q&A at the International Mendi Film Festival, Spain.  ///  Marta Gómez (co-director), Sara Blanco (producer), Paula Iglesias (co-director), Aniqa bano.

Filmpact! is supporting Flying Hands on fundraising and impact strategy. We’re building a campaign to dismantle prejudice and expand educational and employment opportunities for the deaf community in Pakistan and beyond. 

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