Magical, sweet, visually evocative, and gently paced, GHOST SCHOOL, directed by British-Pakistani filmmaker Seemab Gul, captures a child’s pursuit of answers in a community weighed down by fear of ghosts and misinformation.
This delightful and poignant fable explores corruption from a child’s perspective. Journeying through an expansive, sun-drenched landscape, ten-year-old Rabia encounters people from all classes and backgrounds in her quest to uncover the reasons why the only school in her village is closed. Rumor has it that the school is haunted and the teacher is possessed by a jinn. As the ghostly tales about the school take over the village, Rabia increasingly comes to doubt them.
In this coming-of-age and hopeful feature, filmmaker Seemab Gul’s experience in both documentary and narrative filmmaking, particularly her focus on the current political landscape, informs the film’s insightful critiques of feudal power, gender injustice, and the state’s neglect of rural education. These heavy themes are skillfully balanced and sensitively humanized through young Rabia’s clear-eyed perspective and her refusal to accept silence and superstition in place of truth.
