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OSCAR-CONTENDING FOREIGN FILM “MOOR” STARRING PALM SPRINGS RESIDENT SHAZ KHAN TO SCREEN AT THE 27th ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. JAN 1-11, 2016
PALM SPRINGS, CA- Dec 13, 2015. Moor, the acclaimed Pakistan feature film starring international actor and Palm Springs resident Shaz Khan and directed by Jamshed Mahmood, will screen at the upcoming 27th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Jan 1-11.
MOOR is Pakistan’s official entry in the 88th Annual Academy Awards after garnering rave reviews at the international film festivals. Set against the declining railway system in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, the film follows Wahid, a station master who fights to save a station form closure and his efforts to reconcile with his son Ehsaan who faces struggles of his now in the big city. Khan plays the son fighting to build his family’ fortune who loses his way when he gets involved the corrupt, highly lucrative business of counterfeit documentation.
Khan’s work in Moor has attracted critical praise from his portrayal of a character with darker shades. Newsline Magazine said “Khan draws the audience’s sympathies from the outset, and maintains it even as he builds an aura of mysterious terror and apprehension around Ehsaan’s every move…”
Khan describes his role in the Pakistani film as a leap to another level, after a series of short films and independent features. He told Express Tribune with the International New York Times, “I know Urdu fluently, but to perform in the character’s circumstances, his inflections and behavior was a huge challenge for me. That’s where the actual work comes in.”
Shazli Hafeez “Shaz” Khan is a Pakistani-American actor and filmmaker who started his career in New York acting in independent movies and plays and getting his MFA in Acting from the prestigious Actors Studio Drama School. He was born in Oxnard, CA and raised in Pakistan until he was in middle school. He graduated with a degree from finance from Penn State University and work in banking at a Fortune 500 firm before realizing his true passion. Often compared to likes of De Niro, Pacino and most recently Sean Penn, an actor he admires and somewhat resembles, Khan’s fair features and complexion has allowed him to play a variety of roles from a young cancer patient to a boxer from Philly, the all American frat boy, to a young Oscar Wilde.
Khan and his wife divide their time between Palm Springs, Los Angeles and when in Pakistan he lives with his Nanu. What’s up next for Khan? He is set to star in the inspirational thriller The Servant about a young sheepherder from a village in northern Pakistan who comes to the city and ends up becoming the biggest movie star in the country. He sees himself continuing to work with artists of the highest caliber, sharing stories that are worth telling; it’s what he has been preparing for since he started.
Moor will screen Monday, January, 4th at 4PM, Wednesday January 6th at 1PM, and Thursday, January 7th at 1:30PM at the Camelot Theaters, 2300 East Baristo Road, Palm Springs, CA 92262.
For more information on the film or to schedule an interview with Shaz Khan please contact Deborah Gilels, LA Media Consultants at 818-758-6509, or email ddgilels@prodigy.net.