The documentary movie "Non-Parent" (2017, 83 min.) which was presented at the human-rights film festival One World in the Czech Republic in 2017 where it received the price for the best Czech documentary movie, represents a time-lapsed social probe into lives of six different families representing six alternatives to what is considered as a traditional family. Even though some of the issues raised by the movie, such as the question of the right of an individual to adopt a child, a right of a same-sex couple to raise children or a right of a baby to know his/her biological partner may not be that pertinent for the Pakistani society, the overarching question of a freedom of choice of whom a family consists, is very relevant for the Pakistani society as well. Chargé d'affaires a.i. Jaroslava Bobková who introduced the movie and moderated the post-screening discussion with audience, raised two main issues related to the overarching question specified above, namely the issue of arranged and forced marriages (sometimes also related to honour killing cases), and of the family planning, the absence of which leads to overpopulation of Pakistan, representing a dangerous demographic problem related also to economical and social problems and a slowdown in the development of the country.

The discussion was very lively with spectators actively involved and reacting to each other. Among other things, the discussion revealed the main reasons for which the youth in Pakistan supports the tradition of arranged marriages, namely reluctance of the young people to take on the responsibility for results of their own choice, an excessive dependence of young people on their parents but also the lack of opportunities for girls and boys to interact between themselves and get to know each other. A reputed women rights' activist has proposed an alternative term for the opposite of arranged and forced marriages, "own"choice marriage", which was warmly welcomed by the rest of the audience as an alternative to the discredited lable of "love marriage". The participants to the discussion also agreed on the need to solve the uncontrolled population growth in Pakistan. Besides lack of awareness, they considered the lack of relevant facilities to be an obstacle to family planning in the country.

Discussion with the Audience

Post-Screening Discussion