REPORT
Sharmeen Obaid wins second
Oscar award, makes Pakistan
proud
S
harmeen was awarded the Oscar in the category
Best Documentary - Short Subject for her documentary A Girl in the River, which follows the life of
an 18-year-old girl who is a survivor of an honour killing
attempt. Wearing a floor-length black Sana Safinaz coat
over a matching dress, Sharmeen had earlier walked
the red carpet with her mother and the SOC Films team.
"I have another one!" said Sharmeen as she took the
stage to accept the award, her second after she won an
Academy Award for Saving Face in 2012. “This is what
happens when determined women get together," continued Sharmeen. "From Saba, the girl in my film who
remarkably survived honor killing and shared her story,
to Sheila Nevins, Lisa Heller from HBO and Tina Brown
who supported me from day one. To the men who champion women, like Geof Bartz who has edited the film to
Asad Faruqi, to my friend Ziad who brought this film to
the government, to all the brave men out there like my father and husband who push women to go to school and
work and who want a more just society for women!""This
week the Pakistani PM said he would change the law on
honor killing after watching this film -- that is the power
of film!" said Sharmeen in closing. Sharmeen has been
in Los Angeles for the past week in preparation for the
Academy Awards, arguably Hollywood's biggest night of
the year. Sharmeen had previously said that while she
was excited by the prospect of winning another Oscar,
she would consider her work on the documentary a 'real'
success if she managed to help convince stakeholders
to pass the Anti-Honour Killing bill. Sharmeen definitely
caught the government's attention with A Girl in the River
-- the film was screened at the PM House in Islamabad
just last week. Following that, Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif said that honour killing was a critical issue and
voiced his government’s determination to eradicate this
practice from society. Just a few hours before her win
Sharmeen had stated in a Facebook post: "In just a few
hours the team of A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness will walk the red carpet at the Oscars! Whether
we win or lose today we should be very proud of the
fact that this film has ignited a national discourse about
honor killings in Pakistan and has spurred the government to work on tougher legislation! That achievement
shows that we are maturing as a democracy and today
I'm so very honored and humbled that we have been
able to move the needle on this issue." Sharmeen has
gone a long way to make Pakistan proud.
9 | BOOM