Munir Ahmed Badini is a renowned Balochi novelist and writer, who has written 100 books, including 80 novels and 4 volumes of short stories, letters and diaries. A Master’s in Philosophy from the University of Punjab, he is also a civil servant who, as an officer of the Central Superior Services, has served in a variety of senior government positions,

Munawar Saeed is Pakistan’s veteran TV artist with a career of over four decades in the industry having done roles in 200 films and more than 1000 television dramas. He is known for Moorat Aka Eunuch’s Wedding (2004), Anmol (1973), and Pehchan (1975). Some of his recent famous drama serials are Bunty I Love You, Mere Humrahi, Main Hari Piya,

Munawar Ali Syed is a multidisciplinary artist. Hailing from the city of Hyderabad, Sindh, he now lives and works in Karachi. Assistant Professor at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, he is also a member of the visiting Faculty at the Department of Visual Studies, Karachi University. Syed holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), major in Sculpture,

Mona Eltahawy is an Egyptian-American feminist author who lives between New York City and Cairo. She is the author of Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution, published in 2015. Her second book, The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls, is due in September 2019. She is a commentator to several media outlets.

Mohammed Ali Hakeem has been working in film production since 2013 in various capacities which include direction, cinematography, and editing. With a keen eye for human drama, his true strength lies behind the camera as a director. His short film titled, Kurrachee, was short-listed for Tropfest, Australia in 2013 and it went on to win Cineaste One Film Festival (COFF)

Maria Hassan Siddiqui is an Assistant Professor at Social Sciences Department, and a patron of the Dramatic Society at IBA. She has over 17 years of training experience in various institutes including Allama Iqbal Open University; National Institute of Banking & Finance, State Bank of Pakistan; and Commecs Institute of Faculty Training. She has been involved in teachers training and

Mahin Abdul Wahid Baloch is a teacher, trainer, purposepreneur, and a social worker. She is the founder of Mestag Foundation through which she provides free education to street children in Lyari, Karachi. She formed her theatre group Rock the Band to use it as a powerful tool to convey socially relevant messages. Her first play was in English, New Day

Maheen Zia is a Karachi-based filmmaker. Her documentary has been aired both locally and internationally on Al Jazeera, Nat Geo, NHK, Geo Television Network, Aaj Television and Samaa Television. In 2008 she received the Berlin Today Award for her short fiction film Match Factor. In 2015, her first feature length documentary Lyari Notes—co-directed and co-produced with Miriam Chandy Menacherry—had its

Kulsoom Aftab is a dramatist, poet, actor, original content creator, director, translator, voice-over artist, script consultant, writing and acting coach, student counsellor, and NAPA faculty. Kulsoom is an activist for meaningful entertainment, female empowerment, and original content. Her work includes award-winning documentary, Our Jacob; Urdu translation of Stanislavsky’s An Actor Prepares; gave voice-over in 3 Bahadur (first Pakistan animated movie);

Khusro Mumtaz has written extensively on film, theatre, and music for various publications such as The News, Dawn, and The Friday Times and is one of the leading film critics in the country. He has co-hosted a successful movie review programme on television which ran for a number of years; served on the Kara Film Festival Jury and Lux Style