Pakistani filmmaker Umair Bilal's feature debut, the experimental documentary "As Light as Air," will have its world premiere on 11 August in the Critics' Weeks section of the 79th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. The film explores spiritual life in Sehwan, a Sufi city known for pilgrimage, folklore and collective ecstasy, offering audiences a hypnotic, trance-like cinematic experience rather than a conventional narrative approach.

Bilal, who also produced the film and shared cinematography duties with Konstantin Stell, has a personal connection to Sehwan through his mother, who followed Sufism and took him to shrines as a child. He described letting go of the need to rationally understand the rituals and instead surrendering to the town's rhythm during filming. Siddhant Sarin edited the documentary, with music from Sui Sofie Heinz and YANT, and The Hollywood Reporter has released the film's trailer ahead of its Locarno debut.