As part of the Discovery section at this year’s TIFF, I was happy to see a screening of GHOST SCHOOL, one of the more overlooked titles at the festival.
About: When 10-year-old Rabia (Nazualiya Arsalan) discovers her school has abruptly closed, she sets out to uncover the truth behind the eerie rumours swirling through her rural Pakistani village. Whispers that her teacher has been possessed by a jinn — a supernatural spirit from Islamic folklore — quickly take hold, but the adults in her life offer only evasive responses.
Rabia’s mother (Samina Seher), struggling to parent a precocious child alone, does not have the energy to explore other options or ask many questions. As Rabia’s search deepens, she must navigate a tangle of local superstition, bureaucratic indifference, and maybe even magical forces that seem to echo the uncertainty around her.
This gently paced, visually evocative fable captures a child’s determined pursuit of answers in a community weighed down by fear, misinformation, and corruption. Drawing upon a tradition of introspective coming-of-age journey films, Ghost School finds poignancy in the quiet moments — Rabia’s solitary walks, hushed conversations — and the expansive, sun-drenched landscape as she encounters people from all classes and backgrounds on her quest.
Filmmaker Seemab Gul’s experience in both documentary and narrative filmmaking, particularly her focus on the current political landscape, informs the film’s insightful critiques of feudal power, gender injustice, and the state’s neglect of rural education. These heavy themes are skilfully balanced and humanized through young Rabia’s clear-eyed perspective and her refusal to accept silence and superstition in place of truth.
Reaction: I always feel the foreign films at TIFF get overshadowed by the bigger movies, so I was happy to see a screening of this quaint and even funny at times drama about a little girl trying to figure out if there is a religious reason her school closed (is it haunted by intelligent spirits, known in this culture as Jinn?) or is something else afoot. Even at its short 88 minute run time it packs quite an emotional impact, and I was also very happy with the lyrical, haunting tone of the third act where our lead’s actions have an effect on the small group of people in her town around here. There’s a sequence involving the school late in the film worth the price of admission alone and the lead girl here, Nazualiya Arsalan, is quite infectious as our little Nancy Drew of this story. The overall relaxed feel and tone of the movie was also appreciated. The cinematography as well is also quite interesting here, as it is shown in the smaller, boxy 4×3 aspect ratio to keep the action more contained.
Though it’s a smaller title at the festival, I still hope this finds an audience down the road.
