Muhammad Ali Ijaz
Muhammad Ali Ijaz graduated from National College of Arts in 2009 with a degree in Film and Television Production. He has been making documentaries for various national and international organizations, telling stories on plethora of themes for UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, WWF, World Animal Protection, Time Magazine, to name a few.
His profound mission is making films on wildlife conservation and environmental issues which explore the intricate relationship between man and nature. Amongst his several victories he received the WWF – Living Planet Award in 2011, for his documentary “Missing Vultures” which portrayed the disappearance of Vultures from Pakistan and its consequences. And, a more recent triumph was his award winning documentary “Pangolins in Peril – A Story of Rare Scales”, screened at film festivals around the world predominantly in USA, India, Russia and Finland.
His nature films have been screened in hundreds of schools across Pakistan as a part of WWF-Pakistan’s education and outreach program, helping fill a void in natural history programming in the country. From features in British red cross to Youlin magazine to film festivals in several parts of the world; at home in Pakistan Ali is the founder and director of Documentary Foundation of Pakistan and currently teaches filmmaking at the Institute for Art and Culture in Lahore.
Ijaz believes in documentary filming being a strong agent used to inform, educate and inspire millions who dream with open eyes.