Abid Aziz Merchant is a Pakistani film producer based in Karachi, Pakistan. After 21 years as a banker, he founded Sanat Initiative in 2013 with a view to change the artistic landscape in Pakistan. Sanat Initiative has become the top tier visual art space in Pakistan & one of the lead sources of distributing Pakistani visual art globally. Abid has been instrumental in developing the careers of emerging visual artists from Pakistan.
Under the banner of Sanat Initiative, Abid ventured into film production with his first feature film “I’ll Meet You There” (Grand Jury Award Nominee SXSW 2020). His second feature film “Wakhri” (in development) was selected for Open Doors at Locarno Film Festival (2018) and for the Cinefondation l’Atelier Festival de Cannes (2019).

Abid has also produced a number of short films including “1978” (Locarno Film Festival 2020, Pardi di domani), “The End” (UKAFF 2021, Ray of Hope) and “Mulaqat (Sandstorm)” (Venice Film Festival 2021, Orizzonti).
In Pakistan, the film industry is in its revival phase & Abid aims to bring original & meaningful stories through film production for an audience that clearly seeks engaging content.