Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy

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Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, filmmaker, actor, and activist. She is known for her outstanding work in documentaries that focuses on stories of marginalized communities across the world. Pakistan government has honoured Sharmeen with Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the second-highest civilian honour of Pakistan. She was also named among the top 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine 2012. Sharmeen is a recipient of two Academy Awards, six Emmy Awards including two of which are in the International Emmy Award for Current Affairs Documentary category for the films, Pakistans Taliban Generation and the documentary Saving Face (2012), and a Knight International Journalism Award. She is the first Pakistani to win an Academy Award and is also one of the only eleven female directors who have ever won an Oscar for a non-fiction film.Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was born and brought up in Karachi, Pakistan. Soon after completing her primary and secondary education in Pakistan, she moved to the United States to pursue her higher education. Sharmeen earned a bachelors degree in Economics and Government from Smith College, Massachusetts, United States. Later, she received a double masters degree in Communication and International Policy Studies from Stanford University. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoys degree she earned from Smith College, Massachusetts.While studying for her masters, Chinoy developed a keen interest in direction and filmmaking. Sharmeen as a director delivered her first film Terrors Children for The New York Times in 2003. Sharmeen narrated her idea behind presenting the story visually as After September 11th I realized that people in the West really had no concept about life in Pakistan or in Afghanistan. I wanted people to see beyond the rhetoric of war, so I wrote a story for a newspaper I was freelancing for about Afghan refugee children. But I felt that the story needed to be told visually, that it would be far more compelling to an American audience if it were. That is why I decided to make a documentary film on the children in refugee camps in Pakistan. I wanted to transport the viewers to Pakistan; I wanted them to feel the pain that young Afghan children were feeling by taking them on a journey inside the refugee camps. In Terrors Children, my aim was to address issues relating to the psychological impact of war, on education, and the poverty and day to day survival of these children..In 2003, she came up with another film, Reinventing the Taliban? based on the rising of radical Islamic fundamentalism within Pakistan. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoys Terrors Children and Reinventing the Taliban? were both the award-winning films of 2003.Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy received countless threats for making films on such sensitive topics but she was never afraid to raise her voice through her films. She continued to present the unseen reality of society through her films and came up with documentaries which include On a Razors Edge, Women of the Holy Kingdom, Pakistans Double Game, Highway of Tears, Assimilation No, Integration Yes, Iraq: The Lost Generation, Pakistans Taliban Generation, and Transgender: Pakistans Open Secret. During an interview when asked about her film making experience in Pakistan, she explained, The obstacles faced by documentary filmmakers in Pakistan have more to do with access to funding as compared to gender bias or any other forms of prejudice. We do not have a history of documentary films in Pakistan, thus TV channels and production houses are not forthcoming with investments. Pakistanis have always displayed an interest in such content, and we have a multitude of stories to tell with a community that is eager to share them. She further added, While we did not encounter any physical danger whilst shooting Saving Face, we did have to struggle with the mindset of local communities. During the first few days of shooting we faced difficulty when trying to connect with communities and reaching out to survivors. However once we settled into the towns and began making connections we did not face any further obstacles..In 2004, Sharmeen returned to Pakistan and signed a long-term association with Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) TV series Frontline World. She reported On a Razors Edge and produce many broadcast reports, online videos, and wrote Dispatches from Pakistan for the next 5 years.Obaid Chinoy has been serving as the ambassador for Blood Safety for Pakistans national blood safety program since 2007. In the same year, she became a member of the establishment committee of The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP), a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural and historic preservation in Pakistan.In 2012, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy won Pakistans first-ever Oscar with her documentary film Saving Face. The film directed and produced by Sharmeen Obaid features the story of two women attacked by acid and their struggle for justice and healing, which led to a mechanism for easier accessibility and more doctors doing reconstructive surgery on survivors. The inspiration behind the film was the life of acid victim Fakhra Younus, who died by suicide in 2012. The film was recognised globally and has earned a number of international awards including an Emmy Award and the 2012 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoys Oscar-winning moment.On 23 March 2012, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was honoured with the Hilal-e-Imtiaz for her dedicated contribution towards Pakistani cinema and representing the country at the global level. Hilal-e-Imtiaz is the second-highest civilian honour of Pakistan presented by the Pakistan government to the individuals who have made an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of Pakistan, world peace, cultural or other significant public endeavours.The prestigious Time magazine listed Sharmeen Obaid in the annual list of the top 100 most influential people in the world for 2012.