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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's 'A Girl in the River' shortlisted for Oscar nomination

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's 'A Girl in the River' shortlisted for Oscar nomination

The documentary has been nominated with 9 other films in the category of Best Documentary - Short Subject
Updated 27 Oct, 2015

After Jami's Moor made it to the long list of Academy Award nominations, acclaimed filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's documentary A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness has been shortlisted for Oscars nominations in the category of Best Documentary - Short Subject. The documentary has been nominated with 9 other films in this category.

A Girl in the River, which is a joint production of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy (SOC) Films and Home Box Office (HBO) follows the life of an 18-year-old girl who is a survivor of an honour killing attempt. Honour killing is a pressing issue in Pakistan as more than a 1000 women fall prey to this practice each year, usually at the hands of their own family members.

The film, which brings to light the plight of oppressed women, is very close to Sharmeen herself.

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness is a film that resonates with me deeply. It's a film about the kinds of choices we women have in the world and how our lives are impacted by the decisions taken by others,” said Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

The film has been jointly produced by journalist Tina Brown and documentary producer Sheila Nevins.

This is not the first time that Sharmeen's work has caught the attention of The Academy. She became the first Pakistani to win an Oscar for her documentary Saving Face in 2012. One of her recent documentaries Song of Lahore, in which she shares directorial credits with Andy Shocken, received a standing ovation at Tribeca Film Festival. She has also won an Emmy award for her documentary Children of Taliban.

The film is set to air on HBO next year.

Comments

Muhammad Ayub khan Oct 27, 2015 01:57pm
Wish you all the Best!! May Allah Gives you more success and outstanding Achievements in yours professional career . You are a good will ambassador of Pakistan for peace . Hope your creative Talent and work as Documentary Film Director will be recognized internationally .
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mba Oct 27, 2015 02:33pm
Proud of you. Ms. Chonoy has the courage to show us the mirror - most of us do not have the courage to look at it. How long can we close the eyes to bitter truths, instead of changing Pakistan?
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Rixvi Oct 27, 2015 03:13pm
Great going! I'm a big fan of her. Keep it up Sharmeen.
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Max Oct 27, 2015 05:11pm
sharmeen It has got nothing to do with quality of film rather its politics why it is nominated . If the film is on the subject not undermining our culture on the basis of isolated incidents is like selling miseries/death to the world
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Mani Oct 27, 2015 05:15pm
Sharmeen your films have won awards and given you international recognition. But have they helped the cause(s) discoursed in your films? I don't think so.
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Akram Oct 27, 2015 05:21pm
nice to see a Pakistani woman doing so well, in a field Pakistani men have obviously failed at.
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Mir Oct 27, 2015 06:09pm
Kudos! indeed, it is a moment of pride for the nation. Ma'am is doing a great job. In the strict sense of the word, she is a documentarian par philanthropist.
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Malik Achakzai Oct 27, 2015 07:22pm
Best of luck ahead; you are doing nobel job; spreading awareness on the social issues and taboos in Pakistan and the region.
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Karachi_burger Oct 27, 2015 09:40pm
@Max A thousand reported cases a year are not isolated incidents. Also, honour killings are not just a Pakistani phenomenon but a subcontinental issue. Desi's abroad have recently begun committing such atrocities too. It's time to wake up.
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Absano Oct 27, 2015 10:58pm
As far as the motion pictures go, I am sort of glad and proud that our best fare so far has been documentaries on real life subjects. Not trying to bring the other genres down, I just feel it befits Pakistan given the challenges it faces. May our other movies also find acclaim but the documentary genre shows us to be cognisant, not oblivious of our difficulties. We need to encourage more youngsters to get into documentary making as a form of knowledge gathering and sharing.
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AXH Oct 28, 2015 03:01am
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, you are the pride of Pakistan.
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AXH Oct 28, 2015 03:03am
@Absano - Well said.
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NASEERULLAH Oct 31, 2015 11:26pm
much better
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