AJ

AJ

Director of Umro Ayyar - A New Beginning | Janaan | Sherdil | Parchi | Heer Maan Ja | Siyaah. Building the future of Pakistani Cinema. From the indie roots of Siyaah to directing Pakistan’s Blockbuster Sci-Fi epic, Umro Ayyar, Azfar Jafri's career has been defined by one goal: pushing the boundaries of what is possible in South Asian cinema. Over the last decade, Azfar has navigated the complexities of high-stakes action, comedic timing, and large-scale VFX. Now, he is committed to bridging the gap between theory and the "real world" for the next generation of creators. Azfar Jafri teaches filmmaking and deconstructs the actual production diaries, creative pivots, and on-set challenges from his films to give students an unfiltered look at the craft.

AI and the Human Touch

Artificial Intelligence has become one of the most disruptive tools of our time. It has entered industries across the globe, changing the way we work, create, and think. For many, AI is a way to enhance productivity, speed up tasks,…

The Language of Negative Space

We’re so used to thinking about stories in terms of what fills them, dialogue, action, music, mechanics, that we sometimes forget the power of what isn’t there. Silence. Emptiness. Negative space. These absences aren’t voids; they’re choices. And when used…

Crafting Story Through the Cut

In the world of filmmaking, there’s a saying that resonates deeply with anyone who understands post-production: the editor is the second director of a film. While the director captures the vision on set, it’s in the editing room where that…

Chapter One: Lost In Wilderness

Lost In Wilderness

I’ve been making films for the past 15 years. So far, I’ve directed 6 live-action feature films and acted as the animation head in two animated feature length films. And I did not go to a film school. Instead, I…

Breaking Free from an Ecosystem

For years, I used Adobe Creative Cloud without really thinking about it. Then I discovered Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve, and I realized I’d been accepting a model that didn’t have to be the only option. The transition wasn’t something I…

First Course, Real Lessons

After years of teaching filmmaking to bachelor students in university classrooms, I decided to test a different approach: a three-hour online crash course. The goal wasn’t just to teach, but to validate whether my teaching style could translate to the…

The mIRC of a New Generation

Every time I open Discord, I’m transported back to the early 2000s, sitting in front of a chunky monitor, the distinctive ping of mIRC echoing through my room. For those of us who grew up in IRC (Internet Relay Chat)…

Iterative Creative Direction

Feedback, Friction, and Finding the Emotional Center Creative projects rarely emerge fully formed. Whether you’re making a film, building a game, or designing an experience, the process is often a cycle of building, breaking, and rebuilding. Iteration is the lifeblood…

. . . to Code or Not to Code . . .

Why Logic Still Rules Game Development? I need to get this off my chest. When I first started out, one of the big questions I had was, “Do I really need to know how to code?” It’s a fair question.…