Locarno Sufi Trance Doc ‘As Light as Air’ Director Umair Bilal on Surrendering to a Pakistani Shrine Town: ‘I Became Part of Its Rhythm’

Umair Bilal spent months in Sehwan, Pakistan, trying to direct a documentary. Then he gave up. “Every time I tried to impose that logic onto Sehwan, it felt like I was working against the place rather than with it,” the Pakistani filmmaker tells Variety of his debut feature, “As Light as Air,” which premieres in…