Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy became the first Pakistani film-maker to earn an Oscar nomination with her film Saving face, which was nominated in the “Documentary, short film” category as the Oscar nominations were released on Tuesday. Saving Face is the story of two women from Southern Punjab who are victims of acid violence.
“It is a positive story about Pakistan on two accounts: firstly, it portrays how a Pakistani-British doctor comes to treat them and it also discusses, in great depth, the parliament’s decision to pass a bill on acid violence,” Obaid-Chinoy had said when her film was short-listed for nominations in October 2011. According to the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Bill, the perpetrators of acid violence will be punished with imprisonment for life and Obaid-Chinoy has captured that aspect in her latest venture.
"An Academy Award nomination is stuff dreams are made of. It has reaffirmed my belief it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, if you put quality work out there, it will be appreciated.I hope I can make Pakistan proud by bringing home an Oscar." Ms Obaid-Chinoy told the BBC.
Obaid-Chinoy received the Emmy award for her documentary Pakistan: Children of the Taliban in 2010.
The documentary, which is filmed across Islamabad, Rawalpindi and the small towns of Punjab, released in the US in November. It is due to release in the UK in March 2012, following which it will be released in Pakistan. The film is set to be released in March this year, while the Oscars will be held on February 26.
Obaid, who has directed several documentary films, won an Emmy award in 2010 for her documentary Pakistan: Children of the Taliban.
Saving face, which the Karachi-based filmmaker has co-directed with Daniel Junge, depicts the life of a British Pakistani plastic surgeon who donates his time to heal acid victims in Pakistan.
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is an Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker. Her films include PAKISTAN’S TALIBAN GENERATION, which aired on PBS, Channel 4, CBC, SBS and Arte and was the recipient of the Alfred I Dupont Award as well as The Association for International Broadcasting award. Sharmeen has made over a dozen-multi award winning films in over 10 countries around the world and is the first non-American to be awarded the Livingston Award for best international reporting.
In 2007, Sharmeen was awarded the broadcast journalist of the year award in the UK by One World Media for her work in a series of documentary films for Channel 4, which included a film about xenophobia in South Africa THE NEW APARTHEID. Her other films have been awarded The Overseas Press Club Award, The American Women in Radio and Television Award, The Cine Golden Eagle award and the Banff Rockie Award.
Sharmeen was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan and received a bachelors degree from Smith College and went on to complete two masters degree from Stanford University.
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