Alumni on ECLA
Anisa Shaikh, Pakistan
Attended: Academy Year 03/04
Currently: Acting & Directing; Film Studies, Lahore
I was fresh out of high school in Pakistan when I received my acceptance to ECLA. From those first few moments in Berlin I knew instantly that this was going to be a year I will possibly never forget. And I couldn’t have been more right.
From the house that I was assigned to live in, to the courses and seminars, everything seemed like it was hand picked to enhance a higher learning, the kind that isn’t necessarily just a college experience. Due to the small size of the student body and faculty…time soon made us all morph into a close-knit family for that one year. Everyone depends on everyone else at ECLA for love, understanding and knowledge. The professors seemed almost keen at learning more from their students every time there was a seminar. Listening is key there.
Today I am completing a Film Degree in Lahore and simultaneously directing and acting on television. I long to return to Berlin and Pankow, now and then. I have friends that I made at ECLA that are spread all over the world and we are all in touch.
Today I have developed a deep interest in politics and philosophy. I have learnt to question everything and appreciate anything. And yes, that might be just me…but the hand that I held when I was 18 that lead me out of a pubescent haze, still holds the hands of others year after year. And that makes me smile. It makes me smile because there aren’t many places in the world that parent you at a time when you are at a cross roads in life and give you the space to grow and the momentum to move forward. That...a skip in your step and a song in your heart.