Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy

Early life and background

Obaid-Chinoy was born on 12 November 1978 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Her father, Sheikh Obaid, was a businessman, who died in 2010, and her mother, Saba Obaid, is a social worker. She has a younger sister, Mahjabeen Obaid. Obaid-Chinoy attended Karachi Grammar School, followed by Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi. According to her, she wasn't inclined toward academics though received good grades. Obaid-Chinoy then moved to the United States for higher education. Upon moving, she studied at the Smith College, from where she completed her bachelor's degree in journalism in 2002. After graduating from the Smith College, she enrolled herself at the Stanford University for a double master's degree in International Policy Studies and Communication, which she received in 2004, during this period, she developed a long-lasting passion for filmmaking, and made two award-winning short films simultaneously.

Career

After graduating from Smith College in 2002, she returned to Pakistan, and launched her career as a filmmaker with her first film Terror's Children for The New York Times. In 2003 and 2004 she made two award-winning films while a graduate student at Stanford University. She then began a long association with the PBS TV series Frontline World, where she reported "On a Razor's Edge" in 2004 and went on over the next 5 years to produce many broadcast reports, online videos and written "Dispatches" from Pakistan. Her most notable films include Children of the Taliban, The Lost Generation, Afghanistan Unveiled, 3 Bahadur, Song of Lahore and the Academy Award-winning Saving Face and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness. Her visual contributions have earned her numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Short Subject Documentary (2012 and 2016) and the Emmy Award in the same category (2010 and 2011) and the One World Media Award for Broadcast Journalist of the Year (2007). Her films have been aired on several international channels, including the PBS, CNN, Discovery Channel, Al Jazeera English and Channel 4.

Obaid-Chinoy has also won six Emmy Awards, including two in the International Emmy Award for Current Affairs Documentary category for the films Pakistan's Taliban Generation and Saving Face. Her Academy Award win for Saving Face made her the first Pakistani to win an Academy Award, and she is one of only 11 female directors who have ever won an Oscar for a non-fiction film. She is also the first non-American to win the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. The 2015 animated adventure 3 Bahadur made her the first Pakistani to make a computer-animated feature-length film.

In 2007, she helped found the Citizens Archive of Pakistan, whose projects center around the preservation of Pakistan's cultural and social heritage. She also serves as the Ambassador for Blood Safety for Pakistan's national blood safety program. Obaid-Chinoy is a TED Fellow and the recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the second highest civilian award in Pakistan. Time magazine named Sharmeen in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2012.

On 23 March 2012, Pakistan's president conferred the highest civilian award, the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, on Obaid-Chinoy for bringing honor to Pakistan as a filmmaker. Sharmeen was ranked 37th on Desiclub.com's list of the 50 Coolest Desis of 2009.

In 2012, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy released the 5-part series Ho Yaqeen (To Believe). In 2014, SOC Films released the 6-part series I Heart Karachi. On April 19, 2015, Song of Lahore, directed and produced by her and Andy Schocken, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and was the Runner Up to the Tribeca Audience Choice Award. In September 2015, Broad Green Pictures acquired the U.S distribution rights to Song of Lahore announcing the release of the film in select cinemas in the U.S. In October 2015 the film was submitted for consideration in the documentary feature category for the 2016 Oscars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Song of Lahore European premiere was at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) from 18 to 29 November 2015. The film had its Middle Eastern premiere at the 12th Annual Dubai International Film Festival in December 2015.

On the 20th of May, 2016 Song of Lahore was released in select cinemas across New York City and Los Angeles. The cinematic release was accompanied by the release of the official soundtrack which features collaborations with artists such as Wynton Marsalis and Meryl Streep.

On May 22, 2015, Pakistan's first animated movie, 3 Bahadur, directed by Obaid-Chinoy, a film dedicated to inculcating bravery in the youth of Pakistan, was released by Waadi Animations. The heroes of the film, Amna, Kamil and Saadi were highly anticipated, and despite being shown on only 50 screens in Pakistan, 3 Bahadur became Pakistan's highest grossing animated movie of all time, earning Rs 6.5 million and defeating the record set by Rio 2. 3 Bahadur also screened at the Montreal Film Festival in Canada, in August 2015.

On September 11, 2015, Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers Obaid-Chinoy's feature documentary, co-directed and produced with Geeta Gandbhir, screened at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015 for its North American premiere. The film follows the journey of three Bangladeshi women soldiers who are deployed to Haiti as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission. The film premiered at the Mumbai Film Festival on 29 October 2015 for its Asian premiere and played at the DOC NYC Festival in November 2015.

On 17 February 2016, the film screened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City as part of a discussion of women and peacekeeping. The event was moderated by Stefen Feller, UN Police Adviser and was attended by a full house, including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh, Masud Bin Momen. The documentary won the Humanitarian Award at the RiverRun International Film Festival on April 21, 2016 and also won the at the Bentonville Film Festival, dated 7 May 2016.

On 15 February 2016, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy met with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad to discuss the measures required to plug the loopholes in the law which allow the perpetrators of honour killings to walk free. On the 22nd of February 2016, the first screening of A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness was held at the Prime Minister's Secretariat in Islamabad, opened by remarks made by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself - concerning the amendments needed to prevent honour killings from occurring in Pakistan.

On the 28 February 2016, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness won her a second Oscar for Best Documentary, Short Subject at the 88th Academy Awards. This is the first Oscar win for her film company SOC Films and the second Oscar for Obaid-Chinoy as Director.

Her latest commercial venture "Sulagta Sitara" is a documentary series which will be released on the ARY Digital in 2016. The series will share the stories of cities in Pakistan which have experienced hardship, but still manage to shine bright through the darkness.

Personal life

In 2007, Obaid-Chinoy married Fahd Kamal Chinoy, a Karachi-based businessman. The couple has a daughter together, Amelia Chinoy. Obaid-Chinoy holds an honorary Canadian citizenship since 2010. In March 2017, she launched a foundation for womens, which creates awareness on mental health in Pakistan.