Abid Aziz Merchant
- Producer
Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan & after spending 21 years as a career banker, Abid Aziz Merchant decided to entirely change his profession in 2014 & follow his passion for art & film. He conceived Sanat Initiative with a view to change the artistic landscape in Pakistan through art exhibitions, publications & projects. Sanat Initiative has become the top tier visual art space in Pakistan & one of the lead sources of distributing Pakistani visual art globally. Abid has been instrumental in developing the careers of emerging visual artists from Pakistan by giving them a platform for ground-breaking projects thereby promoting experimental & innovative streams of thought. Under the banner of Sanat Initiative, Abid ventured into film production in 2017 with "I'll Meet You There", his first feature as a producer which was filmed in NYC in fall 2018 and was the Grand Jury Award Nominee at SXSW 2020. Abid went on to produce short films which have premiered at Locarno, Sundance and Venice among other festivals and which have also won at Academy qualifying festivals. His projects in development had the honor of being invited to Venice Biennale College Cinema, Locarno Open Doors Hub, Cinefondation l'Atelier Festival de Cannes, Produire au Sud and La Fabrique Cinema de l'Institut francais. In 2023, Abid co-produced a Kazakh feature "Madina" which is an official selection at Tokyo International Film Festival. In Pakistan, the film industry is in its revival phase & Abid aims to bring original & meaningful stories through film production for an audience that clearly seeks engaging content.