Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Wins Second Oscar
Pakistani filmmaker, Asia 21 Young Leader, and Asia Game Changer Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won her second Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for her film A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness at the 88th Academy Awards Ceremony.
The film is about the story of Saba Qaiser, an 18-year-old Pakistani woman who is condemned to death for falling in love, but survives to tell the story. In the film, Obaid-Chinoy reveals the complex forces at work in a country where more than 1000 women are killed in the name of “honor” every year.
During the live telecast Sunday night, Obaid-Chinoy said "This is what happens when determined women get together!" and exclaimed how the film spurred the government of Pakistan to end honor killings, saying “that it is the power of film”. A Girl in the River has ignited a national discourse which compelled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to work on tougher legislation to eradicate honor killings.
Obaid-Chinoy won her first Academy Award for Saving Face, a documentary about acid attack victims in 2012. She is the first Pakistani filmmaker to have won an Academy Award.
Watch her acceptance speech here:
