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I want my work to make people uncomfortable, to make them think: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy

I want my work to make people uncomfortable, to make them think: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy

The Oscar-winning filmmaker on her motivations and how A Girl in the River could help end honour killing in Pakistan
19 Feb, 2016

What do you do if you’re nominated to win an Oscar? If you’re Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the days preceding the ceremony are jam-packed with long talks supporting a cause that you are dedicated to, working through political red-tape while trying to get an important bill passed, winding your way through extensive travel plans and squeezing in alone-time with your two little daughters.

Some time is dwelt upon selecting the wardrobe for the Oscars and constructing an acceptance speech, on the chance of winning, but these considerations are hardly the be all and end all of Sharmeen’s day.

“Right now I’m just very focused on prompting the stakeholders in getting the Anti-Honour Killing bill passed,” she explains. “If I succeed, then that, in reality, will be my real win.”

Sharmeen met with the Pakistani Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif to discuss the eradication of honour killings in Pakistan - Publicity photo
Sharmeen met with the Pakistani Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif to discuss the eradication of honour killings in Pakistan - Publicity photo

From honour killing to the plight of acid victims, the inculcation of children in Taliban armies and Lahore’s waning musical arts to beyond Pakistan — this is not the first time Sharmeen has told a story that is distressingly true.

Sharmeen’s A Girl in the River — The Price of Forgiveness depicts the horror of honour killing within Pakistan. The documentary’s protagonist, a girl quite literally being thrown into the river by her father and uncle, manages to survive being killed in the name of ‘honour’. With the aid of the local police, she gets her assaulters arrested but is then pressurised by her family to forgive them, and allow them to go free.


Legal loopholes in the system provide the rare survivors of honour killings to forgive family members. “Already, this documentary has made enough noise to initiate countrywide discourse,” observes Sharmeen. “That is a small victory in itself."


This story, shocking though it may be, is a sad reality. Legal loopholes in the system provide the rare survivors of honour killings to forgive family members who tried to kill them because they have done a shameful act, such as be suspected of adultery. “Already, this documentary has made enough noise to initiate countrywide discourse,” observes Sharmeen. “That is a small victory in itself. The system needs to recognise that these are people committing cold-blooded premeditated murders and that they can’t be allowed to go free.”

As Pakistan’s one and only Oscar award winner — her Saving Face brought home the coveted statuette back in 2012 — Sharmeen’s name immediately adds credibility to her efforts against honour killing. Needless to say, the documentary’s nomination at this year’s 88th Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Short Subject category has helped augment support across the country.

Sharmeen and Saving Face co-director Daniel Junge show off their Oscars at the 2012 Academy Awards - Photo courtesy celebrationofwomen.org
Sharmeen and Saving Face co-director Daniel Junge show off their Oscars at the 2012 Academy Awards - Photo courtesy celebrationofwomen.org

Following the announcement of the Oscar nomination, PM Nawaz Sharif promised to ‘rid Pakistan of this evil by bringing in appropriate legislation’. “We hope to have the documentary initially screened at the Prime Minister house, following which we want to show it to students in universities and colleges and air it in local cinemas for a week,” plans Sharmeen.

A woman with a cause

From honour killings to the plight of acid victims, the inculcation of children in terrorist Taliban armies and Lahore’s waning musical arts to beyond Pakistan, women’s rights in Saudi Arabia and the harsh realities faced by policewomen working for the United Nations in Haiti — this is not the first time Sharmeen has told a story that is distressingly true.

“I have worked across the globe, from Pakistan to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Afghanistan. The mindsets and cultures may differ but there are brave and resilient people everywhere who want the truth to be spoken out loud,” she says. “Most people in Pakistan just know me from 2012, when I won the Oscar for Saving Face but in a span of 16 years, I have actually filmed over 20 documentaries. My sole driving force has been to tell stories that need to be highlighted. I want people to feel uncomfortable when they see my work, I want to make them think and perhaps, initiate an impetus for change.”

On location during the shooting of Women of the Holy Kingdom and Afghanistan Unveiled - Photos courtesy Sharmeen Obaid's official Facebook page
On location during the shooting of Women of the Holy Kingdom and Afghanistan Unveiled - Photos courtesy Sharmeen Obaid's official Facebook page

Quite often, her line of work has led her into risky territory. She’s interviewed young boys in Taliban refugee camps, worked under extreme scrutiny in Saudi Arabia and more often than ever, fought rigid mindsets that find nothing wrong with seeking revenge by burning a woman or killing her for honour. “I don’t get scared easily,” she explains. “My father once told me that if I spoke the truth, he would always stand by me and so would the world. I am very fatalistic and believe that when your time to go comes, it comes. That means you should just go on and do what you have to do.”


It is difficult to equate this glamorous side to Sharmeen’s life with the gritty realities that define her work. She’s wandered the slums of Karachi, sans make-up and head covered and yet she is just as much at ease in designer wear at the Oscars red carpet.


Saving Face raised enough hue and cry to persuade the Punjab government to allow acid-burning cases to be processed more quickly. And now, Sharmeen’s crusading against honour killings wherever she can; in talks with students at local universities, within the erudite boundaries of the recent Karachi Literature Festival, over social media and soon enough, on the Oscars’ global stage.

The glamour zone

As pre-Oscar events begin, Sharmeen’s already flying back and forth between the US and Pakistan. At the 88th Academy Awards nominees’ luncheon this week, she was spotted wearing Sania Maskatiya and jewellery by Sherezad Rahimtoola. “It’s going to be fairly glamorous, there’s a very illustrious list of nominees this time,” she said before leaving. The images of her filtering in over social media — with Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo and Steven Spielberg — attest to this.

Sharmeen was spotted hobnobbing with Hollywood bigwigs like Mark Ruffalo at the Oscar nominees luncheon earlier this month - Photo courtesy Sharmeen's official Facebook page
Sharmeen was spotted hobnobbing with Hollywood bigwigs like Mark Ruffalo at the Oscar nominees luncheon earlier this month - Photo courtesy Sharmeen's official Facebook page

It is difficult to equate this glamorous side to Sharmeen’s life with the gritty realities that define her work. She’s wandered the slums of Karachi, sans make-up and head covered and yet she is just as much at ease in designer wear at the Oscars red carpet. The corridors of the SOC Films building are lined with posters of hard-hitting documentaries but a shelf within her office also shows her hobnobbing with the rich and famous; at the Oscars, with Meryl Streep in countless images and shaking hands with Hilary Clinton.


“I may know some [influential] people but it is because I have slowly worked my way through the ranks, filming in conflict zones, drawing attention to issues that matter,” she points out. “It doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy attending the events and the glamour. I work hard and then I enjoy myself.


In 2012, she was slotted as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People, with actress Angelina Jolie writing her introduction. Also, in a concert in London in 2013, Madonna aligned with her to help raise funds for the construction of a school in Karachi’s slums.

“I may know some people but it is because I have slowly worked my way through the ranks, filming in conflict zones, drawing attention to issues that matter,” she points out. “It doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy attending the events and the glamour. I work hard and then I enjoy myself. On a more important note, a global platform like the Oscars allows me to share my message with stars from around the world.”

Sharmeen with Song of Lahore co-director Andy Schocken at the documentary's New York screening, hosted by Meryl Streep - Photo courtesy Sharmeen Obaid's official Facebook page
Sharmeen with Song of Lahore co-director Andy Schocken at the documentary's New York screening, hosted by Meryl Streep - Photo courtesy Sharmeen Obaid's official Facebook page

“It’s been a lucky year for me,” she continues. “My film Song of Lahore premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2015 and its premiere in New York in November was hosted by Meryl Streep. Another documentary, Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. It (2015) was also the year when we released 3 Bahadur under the banner of Waadi Animations. As Pakistan’s first-ever animated movie scripted entirely in Urdu, it was very successful.”

A sequel to 3 Bahadur is already under production and is set to release by the end of this year. Also in the pipeline is a documentary titled Pakistan Remembers, narrating the changes in Pakistan’s major cities. Paying homage to the past through photographs and memorabilia and then zoning in on the present, the film will rely heavily on the archives of the Citizens Archive Pakistan (CAP), an organisation co-founded by Sharmeen, dedicating to preserving Pakistan’s heritage.

A cause for Pakistan

“I have always been passionate about women and children and at 37, I am lucky to be doing work that helps and entertains them,” says Sharmeen. But the causes close to her heart are often those that resonate with every Pakistani. In an effort to convict and imprison honour killing enforcers, Sharmeen’s team has uploaded an online petition, urging the PM to curb the heinous crime altogether.

Despite the publicity generated by the Oscar nomination, only 1,500 signees had been collated at the time at which this story is written. To fight against inhumanity and prejudice shouldn’t have to be just Sharmeen’s cause. And ideally, an Oscar nomination shouldn’t be required to remind us of it.


This article was originally published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, February 14th, 2016

Comments

Usman dar Feb 19, 2016 03:49pm
So its all about getting funds and the results are missing Miss Chinoy
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Zafar Feb 19, 2016 05:48pm
Yes indeed. But that must include the women first.
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Sher Khan Feb 19, 2016 05:53pm
@Usman dar - yes, agreed!
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Omar Feb 19, 2016 06:05pm
Keep up the great work, Ms Chinoy! You are a true patriot!
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Who Am I Feb 19, 2016 06:51pm
Anything on Pakistan that makes the country look cheap in the eyes of the world will win Oscar.
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imranrahbar Feb 19, 2016 06:57pm
This sells to the west i suppose, a lot positive also in Pakistan to project.
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AG Feb 19, 2016 07:25pm
I wish one day she highlights some good about our country, I am not taking her credits away but there are a lots of good things around us as well and she herself is an example of that, isn't it?
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AG Feb 19, 2016 07:27pm
@Omar only patriot should be enough, don't you think?
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Mustafa Feb 19, 2016 07:48pm
We are already thinking Sharmeen. I am thinking if you could have won an Oscar if you made a movie about children burnt in drone attacks.
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dr J Tipu Feb 19, 2016 10:08pm
Excellent. Keep up the good work Sharmeen. Blind people, living in fool's paradise need a shake up. Just like a lot of us have seen child labour within our own four walls growing up, and accepted it, we remain oblivious to the other so many heinous crimes against humanity, covered up in the name of culture and shame. Proud of you!
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Abdul Sheikh Feb 19, 2016 11:53pm
@Who Am I you stole my words.
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Confused Feb 20, 2016 05:48am
What if someone did to you, that makes you think ? May be twice ?
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Very Proud Pakistani Feb 20, 2016 10:03am
The above article is one proof that until an anti-honour bill is passed, honour killing is not illegal. i.e. a bill has to be passed, actually put to vote to make aware that killing a woman is wrong. So our legislators will sit in the National Assemblies as they have done on previous occasions many years back to put forth their arguments why honour-killing is a custom, a ritual, a culture, a mind set, a tradition, a value system that has to go on, and others like the above will behave as though they are the more enlightened, more humane, more sensible, more worldly, will to try a prevail otherwise. This is where Pakistan society really is.
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Human Feb 20, 2016 10:19am
@Who Am I :So for how long will we try to hide from the problems our country faces? "honor killing" is a genuine problem which needs to be addressed ASAP
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berni Feb 20, 2016 08:49pm
Since she has pointed out our failures and is pushing for improvement, she's a true Pakistani.
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Syed Ali Feb 21, 2016 12:38am
She should know the domestic violence rate in western world; results will be startling. Next time she should make a film on drug problem in western world.
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Zafrani Feb 21, 2016 10:04am
Sharmeen is doing an awesome job. She must be encouraged. Well done Sharmeen keep it up. And thank you PM NS for listening to this great lady.
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shereen Feb 21, 2016 11:57am
@Who Am I try seeing the film first. It has pakistanis helping the burnt girls restart life. Its a very positive film. I have seen burn wards full of females in Mayo hospital Lahore back in 1997. So stop living in denial. These crimes exist in our land. Be ashamed of it if you can't help stop it. It can't be glazed over by cute pictures of natural landscape from the north. .. which by the way is a harsh place to live even after several decades of azadi. Anyone who has seen the west knows the legal system in our land is horribly inadequate. She is trying to make her rozi roti while trying to bring lawmakers to an agreement on bettering it. How can you criticize that?
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Pedro Sam Feb 22, 2016 11:35am
Pakistan will develop if it stops living in denial. Pakistan should understand that people use religious sentiments negatively.
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Irfan Reayat Feb 22, 2016 12:15pm
I really admire Ms. Sharmeen for bringing into limelight the dark and deeply guarded issues of our society. I look forward to Ms. Sharmeen focusing on stories in the corridors of power structure in the country and make people uncomfortable there. Issues like court system i.e. how it works, what is the role of lawyers, judges, police, and Politicians that they play to perpetuate violence and injustice in our society. Taliban style governance is obviously not an option, but alternative to Taliban style governance i.e. the current system should also cannot be an option.
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