The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony explores the lives of Pakistan’s Machar Colony — a highly conservative fishing settlement that’s home to thousands of undocumented residents with limited access to income, education, and healthcare. When a gymnastics team is founded, it brings new possibilities to a small group of girls, for whom the sport is not just a physical pursuit but a form of self-expression. As they train to compete in the National Women’s Gymnastics Competition, their journey is guided by both the possibility of change, as well as the obstacles that remain in their way.
Habiba Nosheen’s deeply empathetic documentary showcases the friendships, aspirations, and moments of joy faced by its subjects, even as they confront the limitations placed on them by society. Touching on broader themes of gender rights and the importance of creating spaces for young women to express themselves (especially within marginalized communities), Nosheen’s film is a celebration of girlhood, resilience, and the ability for small opportunities to transform lives.
Oct 9 & 10: Filmmaker Q&A
Presented by
Media Partner
Community Partner
Canada/Pakistan/USA
2026
In Urdu, Bengali, and English with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Malala Yousafzai, Mariska Hargitay, Trish Adlesic, Lauran Bromley, Michelle McCree, Ashley McDermott, Jenni Wolfson, Shelley Saywell, Robin Smith, Elaisha Stokes, Anna Maria Tremonti
Producer
Habiba Nosheen, Amar Lohana
Cinematography
Tess Girard, Nadir Siddiqui, Muhammad Asif Faraz
Editor
Lawrence Jackman
Original Music
Kalaisan Kalaichelvan
Habiba Nosheen
Habiba Nosheen is a Pakistani-born journalist and filmmaker. Winner of a Peabody and three Emmy awards, she also received the 2025 Chicken and Egg Award and was previously named among DOC NYC’s 40 under 40. Her films have been supported by PBS FRONTLINE, JustFilms, The Firelight Media, ITVS, The Center for Asian American Media, CBC, The National Film Board of Canada, Canada Media Fund, and others. She has taught filmmaking at Columbia University, and splits her time between Toronto and New York. She is a proud adoptive mom.
Filmography: Outlawed in Pakistan (2013); The Devil’s Advocate (2021)
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
The Secret in Their Eyes
This month's Talking Pictures screening is a multi-layered, poignant thriller interweaving the personal lives of a prosecution investigator (Ricardo Darin) and a judge, with a manhunt spanning twenty-five years. Stay for cookies, coffee and a chat after!
The Haunting
Directed by Robert Wise in 1963, The Haunting is a classic exercise in the suggestive power of cinema, adapted from Shirley Jackson's 1959 best-seller, The Haunting of Hill House, a provocative blend of supernatural and psychological horror.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.
Possible Love
Lee Chang-dong’s first film since Burning (2018) is a sardonic, slow-burning satire about two couples: a documentary filmmaker married to a wealthy businessman, and a working-class family struggling to make ends meet after the husband has been laid off.
