Synopsis to come.
Pakistani-American Artists’ Convention
The inaugural edition. Taking shape.
One day, two acts
The Afternoon
Art gallery, networking mixer and all-star panels. Light bites and refreshments will be served.
12 PM
Gallery and Mixer
Hassan Khan
Gallery opening of Pakistani and Pakistani-American artists. Community mixer, with food from Nishaan and chai.
Gallery artists and works to be announced.
1 PM
Build Your Own World
Jahanzeb KhawajaSaks AfridiUsman Riaz
Neha Zuberri
What happens when you stop looking for a place within the existing cultural landscape and start creating one of your own? Three artists who have each carved out distinctive creative spaces come together to discuss world-building, unconventional paths, cultural imagination, and the courage to pursue an idea that doesn’t yet have a blueprint.
A New York–based creative technologist and media artist from Karachi, Jahanzeb founded Karachi Community Radio and KCR Studio. His work connects emerging technology, music and culture through immersive media, live performance and community projects.
Saks Afridi is a Pakistan born, New York City based multi-disciplinary artist. He makes futuristic art inspired by ancient South Asian and Middle Eastern culture. He does this through a genre he terms as ‘Sci-fi Sufism’, where he fuses mysticism and futurism to discover worlds and galaxies within the self.
Saks comes to art with a background as a Creative Director in advertising. He studied advertising at the Academy of Art and sculpture at the Art Students League of New York. He speaks English, Urdu, Pashto and conversational Arabic. He is the proud recipient of Gold Cannes Lion Awards, D&AD, One Show Pencils and a United Nations Award for Peace & Understanding.
Usman Riaz is the Founder of Mano Animation Studios, Pakistan’s first hand-drawn animation studio. A versatile creative, Usman has excelled across multiple fields, from music to filmmaking. A TED Senior Fellow, Usman has performed at various TED Conferences, sharing his artistic journey with global audiences.
A Berklee College of Music scholarship recipient, his albums ‘Flashes & Sparks’ and ‘Circus in the Sky’ were released with EMI Pakistan. In film, Usman wrote, directed, and scored short films such as ‘Ruckus’ and ‘The Waves’ — the latter being an Official Selection at the 2013 New York City Independent Film Festival.
His most ambitious project, ‘The Glassworker,’ highlights his storytelling and animation talents, establishing Mano Animation Studios as a leader in cultural storytelling. The film marks a pivotal moment for Pakistani cinema and traditional animation, emphasizing hand-drawn artistry in an era dominated by CGI.
2 PM
Conquering the Machine
Zakir Zaidi
What does it take to build a creative career within the larger systems that shape culture? Alisha and Taurees will unpack the realities of navigating institutions, industries, and commercial spaces while maintaining an authentic creative point of view—how to understand the machine, find leverage within it, and make meaningful work without losing yourself along the way.
A Karachi-born Pakistani-American composer, sound engineer, producer and musician, Taurees studied at Berklee and worked with Hans Zimmer and Remote Control Productions. His credits include Interstellar, Dune and Top Gun: Maverick.
Alisha Zafar is an Emmy, Webby, and Peabody Award-winning producer with more than a decade of experience working in the entertainment industry. She is a rare Pakistani-Irish hybrid who was raised both Muslim and Catholic in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Alisha attended the Honors College at Temple University and began her career in New York City as an NBCUniversal Page, where she worked at Saturday Night Live, The TODAY Show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Alisha went on to lead the digital team at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she spent nearly a decade building an audience of more than 32 million followers through behind-the-scenes content, platform-native storytelling, and digital originals featuring A-list talent. Alisha earned her first Emmy Award in 2026 for producing the online franchise Colbert Before Air, which took home the gold for Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series. She spent the last few months traveling across the United States and Europe while exploring what’s next. Her grandfather still insists that it’s never too late to go to med school in the Caribbean and become a doctor.
3 PM
Making Your Own Noise
Shahjehan KhanNatasha NooraniMisha Japanwala
Aneesa Khan
A conversation about forging an artistic identity on your own terms. Shahjehan, Natasha, and Misha have each built careers across different creative worlds while resisting easy categorization. They’ll explore finding your voice, taking creative risks, building community around your work, and what it means to create culture rather than simply participate in it.
A Pakistani-American actor, musician and media professional from Boston, Shahjehan has appeared in Succession, Deli Boys and Aftermath. He is an award-winning narrator, the host of King of the World and a co-founder of The Kominas.
A musician, music historian and festival director from Lahore, Natasha blends pop, R&B, electronic and subcontinental music. She co-founded Lahore Music Meet and leads Peshkash, an archival project celebrating 20th-century Pakistani music.
Misha Japanwala (b. 1995) is a Pakistani artist and fashion designer whose practice is rooted in a philosophy of radical shamelessness/بے غیرتی (beghairati)— that reclaims the body from cultures of shame, control and silence. Her work documents marginalized bodies as sites of resistance, healing and reclamation.
By inviting muses into her studio, often through open calls, Japanwala molds people’s bodies in a way that celebrates the parts of ourselves we are conditioned to be ashamed of. Every pore and detail is preserved and carried into the final artworks. Situated between fashion and sculpture, these works insist on the radical act of being seen exactly as we are.
Japanwala has exhibited in Pakistan and the United States. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Tang Museum and in private collections worldwide. It has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Vogue, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Document Journal, among others. Her pieces have been commissioned for celebrities such as Cardi B, Lupita Nyong’o, Lil Nas X, and Joy Crookes. Japanwala was an honoree on the Forbes Under 30 list in 2021 and the Dazed 100 list in 2024. Recently, she was commissioned to make two custom sculptural costume accessories for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
Raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Japanwala received a BFA in Fashion Design from the Parsons School of Design in 2018. She is based between Karachi and New Jersey, and is represented by Hannah Traore Gallery. Japanwala is currently an artist in residence at Silver Art Projects in New York City.
4 PM
A break before the Evening
The Evening begins at 5 PM.
The Evening
Three short films, a filmmaker panel, and Natasha Noorani closing the night live.
5 PM
Three short films
Rumi is a 20-something year old Arab-American woman surviving and thriving in New York City. She wants to become an actress, and when it’s her turn to perform a dramatic monologue to her community theater class, she is met with roaring applause. When Rumi is scouted by a casting agent at her coffee shop one morning, she agrees to go in for an open casting call for what seems like a pretty great modeling gig. What starts out as an exciting venture into the world of fashion ends in embarrassment, confusion and deep hurt. Rumi is a story about tokenism, voyeurism, performance and perspective.
Late at night in a half-empty diner, Fahad tells his best friend Maryam that he likes her. She’s not sure if it’s the kind of like you shake off, or the kind that changes everything. The confession makes her question if that’s why they were even friends in the first place.
6 PM
Finding the Frame
Saleem Nasir GondalAisha AminAmmad Shaikh
Ali Pervaiz Malik
A conversation about developing a cinematic point of view—and learning to trust it. Saleem, Aisha, and Ammad will explore how filmmakers decide what stories to tell, whose perspectives to center, and how personal experience shapes what ultimately appears on screen. From finding your voice to navigating the realities of getting work made, the panel examines the choices, challenges, and convictions that go into building a life behind the camera.
Saleem Nasir Gondal (he/him) is a hard-of-hearing Pakistani American filmmaker. Born in Long Island, based in New York, his work explores themes of language and intimacy in BIPOC communities onscreen.
Saleem’s work has been supported by The Black List, The National Board of Review, The Gotham, Tasveer, Pillars Fund, MPAC Hollywood Bureau and the Disability Belongs Entertainment Lab.
Saleem’s short film SUPER SONIC has screened in five different countries, including the Austin Film Festival, TIDE Film Festival and the Asian American International Film Festival. Saleem’s short POST TERM is a winner of the Focus Features | JetBlue Short Film Showcase and has been screened at CAAMFest, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, International South Asian Film Festival of Canada, Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI), and more.
He has a BFA from NYU Tisch and MFA from Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema Brooklyn College.
Aisha Amin is a New York based filmmaker who works across narrative and documentary film. Her films often center women under pressure — navigating identity, belonging, motherhood and self-determination. Aisha’s award-winning short films, Simone, Rumi, Contours and Derby, have been exhibited in museums, screened and won awards at prestigious festivals and have been selected as Vimeo Staff Picks. In 2025, she completed her MFA in Screenwriting at Columbia University. Her work has been recognized by Women in Film, The Black List, Shondaland’s Directing fellowship, the Cine Qua Non Screenwriting Fellowship, NYFA’s Women’s Fund and The Shed’s Open Call Fellowship. Aisha is currently developing her debut narrative feature film.
Ammad Shaikh is a Pakistani Canadian writer and director based in New York City.
Before turning to film, he built a career as a product designer, working on teams at Instagram, YouTube, and Flipboard.
His second short is Just Friends. His debut short, Dating, premiered at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival and screened at festivals including the Dallas International Film Festival and the International South Asian Film Festival.
He is currently developing Technically, a dark comedy series set in Silicon Valley, through Stowe Story Labs.
Ammad’s work centers on universally resonant stories about belonging and the messy nature of human relationships.
Reserve your place.
Tickets are sold through Eventbrite. Choose an act or All Day Access there.
You’re booked.
All ages · In person · Refunds up to 7 days before the event · Capacity is capped at 300
Who is the convention for?
The convention is open to anyone interested in Pakistani and Pakistani American art, culture, film, music, entrepreneurship, and creative communities.
Do I need to be Pakistani or Pakistani American to attend?
No. The convention welcomes everyone. You don’t need to be an artist or part of the Pakistani community to attend.
Will there be food or drinks?
We will have food and drink sponsors during the afternoon.
Is there parking or public transportation nearby?
Walking distance from the E, F, G, 7, and LIRR. Street parking is limited, but there are plenty of adjacent parking garages.
Rollin Studios has a separate accessible entrance. Questions: team@paacnyc.org
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A direct gateway into the Pakistani-American community of New York City.
APPAC
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