Ghost School is a 2025 fantasy drama film directed, produced, and written by Seemab Gul in her directorial debut. It stars Nazualiya Arsalan as Rabia, a ten-year-old girl who tries to uncover the reason why her school is closed. It had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September.John Hazelton, "Toronto film festival unveils Discovery selection with 23 world premieres". Screen Daily, July 23, 2025.
Plot In a rural village, ten-year-old Rabia searches for the reason her school, the only one in the village, has been closed. As rumors of supernatural forces spread through her community, she becomes determined to uncover the truth behind the closure.
Cast Nazualiya Arsalan as Rabia Samina Seher as Rabia's mother Adnan Shah Tipu Vajdaan Shah Muhammad Zamaan Muhammad Zayan Kehan Naqvi Taha Khan Ziarat Gul Tariq Raja Tutu Baba
Production Gul began developing a feature film project titled Haven of Hope. While working on it, she decided to self-fund another project which eventually became Ghost School. The project received a €25,000 completion grant from the MOIN Film Fund. It also received a post-production grant from the Red Sea Fund.
In an interview with Variety, Gul revealed that the film was inspired by her travel to Pakistan in 2022, where she encountered many "ghost schools" in Sindh and Balochistan. The term refers to abandoned school buildings that were originally intended to function as schools but are no longer in use, often due to neglect or corruption. She further explained to The Indian Express that she wanted to highlight the issues surrounding female education in the country. She aimed to "develop a script that examines the cracks in the education system".
Principal photography took place in Karachi in November 2024.
Release Ghost School had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival at the Discovery section on 8 September 2025. Prior to its premiere, French-based MPM Premium acquired the film's international sales rights. It also screened at the Red Sea International Film Festival at the Families & Children section in December 2025. The film had its European premiere at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival on 16 February 2026, in the section "Generation Kplus".
Ghost School also screened at a wide range of international festivals, including the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, Seoul International Women's Film Festival, Muslim International Film Festival, Austin Asian American Film Festival, Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival, Zlín Film Festival, UK Asian Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, Stockholm International Film Festival Junior, FESCAAAL, Luxembourg City Film Festival, New York International Children's Film Festival, Glasgow Film Festival, and the Women International Film Festival.
Accolades Award / Film Festival Year Category Recipient(s) Result Ref. Berlin International Film Festival February 2026 Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury Ghost School Toronto International Film Festival September 2025 Best Film – Discovery Ghost School Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles April 2026 Grand Jury Prize – Feature Ghost School UK Asian Film Festival May 2026 Flame Award for Best Director Seemab Gul Festival del Cinema Africano, d'Asia e America Latina (FESCAAAL) March 2026 Jury Special Mention – Feature Film Competition Ghost School "Visioni Future" Terre des Hommes Italia Award Ghost School
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