Afzal Huda is a recent graduate in Communication Studies at the University of Calgary and is currently completing a six-month internship at Voice Pictures through the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA). Huda's interest in the use of media to try to make a difference began when he was a teenager in Pakistan. He started writing articles about youth related issues for various youth magazines (The Teenager, Young World), but quickly progressed to writing articles for respected citywide newspapers (The Dawn, the News International) in which he gave a critical analysis of government policies.

When Huda returned to Canada in 1997 at age 19, he decided to shift his focus from print to film in the hopes of reaching a wider audience. His first experiences with racism are what led Huda to his interest in promoting the importance and the value of cultural diversity. As part of an innovative documentary film school sponsored by the New University Television Society (NUTV) at the U of C, with the support of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Alberta Media Arts Society (AMAAS), Huda recently wrote, produced and directed a short documentary film entitled Call Me a Paki about the difficulties associated with integrating oneself into a new society while maintaining one's cultural distinctions. In Call Me a Paki; Huda is attempting to subvert the negative connotations associated with the word Paki by defining diversity as strength rather than a stigma. Call Me a Paki was officially selected at the Niagara Indie Film Festival 2004.

Artist Code: 740