The unassuming yet entirely remarkable Perween Rehman will surely go down as one of towering personalities of local history. As an architect and urban planner, she had devoted herself to the katchi abadis and the dispossessed of Karachi. Her unitmely murder in 2013 was a huge loss for the city where she had consistently raised her voice against unethical use of land.

It is fortunate for posterity then that film-maker Mahera Omar made the documentary film, The Rebel Optimist, presenting a portrait of this brave and principled personality and relating her story.

Watch the trailer below.