ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR KARACHI TIPS

Those who tell the stories, rule the world (Navajo proverb, also attributed to Plato).

I do not know whether such people can rule the world or not but they surely rule people’s heart. What’s the proof? #SavingFace started trending on twitter after the path-breaking win of co-directors Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and US-based Daniel Junge at the Oscars. *OMG! Bhangra & Teary Eyes*

Saving Face, Pakistan’s first nomination and win for the Academy awards, is a short 52-minutes documentary on the issue of acid attacks in Pakistan. It competed against God Is the Bigger Elvis, The Barber of Birmingham, Incident in New Baghdad, and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom. The short documentary is filmed entirely in Pakistan and scheduled to be aired in March 2012 on HBO.

While the theme in consideration might be considered as a story of despair by many, but for the director the stance is, “Should we not talk about these things just because they are negative? Because Pakistan can fix its problems if it so chooses.” (Dawn Interview) and “this was not going to be a story of despair, but this was going to be a story of hope because far too many stories of despair come out of Pakistan” (RFE/RL Interview).

The film narrates the pain, struggle and healing of two women Zakia and Ruksana who were attacked by acid. One of them fights to see that the criminals get the toughest sentence. The film traces the travels of British Pakistani plastic surgeon Mohammad Jawad, who performed reconstructive surgery for them. It also features the lawyer who takes up the case and also the work of women politicians to get a bill passed in Parliament. It also highlights the effort of a NGO that works to rehabilitate these survivors. When multiple people work towards a problem, the problem has to bow down. Solution has to arise. In this way, the story is beautifully layered and inspirational.

Filed under: art, New Media, Odes

Saving Face directed by Pakistani investigative documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and Daniel Junge, received the prestigious Academy Award in the category: Best Documentary (Short) at the 84th Annual Academy Awards®. Here is the acceptance speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rvRi6skW-M&feature=youtu.be

The category of Best Documentary (Short) was presented by Rose Byrne & Melissa McCarthy to Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and Daniel Junge. This marks both Sharmeen and Daniel’s first ever Oscar award and was also the first Oscar to be awarded to a Pakistani in the history of the Academy Awards. Upon receiving the award, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy thanked the Heroes of Pakistan , The Academy, her colleagues, cast and crew, fellow nominees, parents, friends and family and said “I am deeply humbled and blown away by the outpouring of support and well wishes that I have received. It is an indescribable feeling and is a dream come true! This is for all the budding filmmakers who think that their work will not be appreciated or recognized; if I can do it, so can you. Today, Pakistan was in the news for all the right reasons and I am thrilled that we are now recognized as artists and story tellers. Zakia, Rukhsana- this one is for you”

The 84th Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California and Billy Crystal hosted the ceremony, while Brian Grazer produced it. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy walked the red carpet with her husband Fahad Chinoy wearing a custom made and quintessentially Pakistani outfit by renowned couturier Bunto Kazmi with jewellery exclusively designed for Sharmeen for the occasion by Kiran Aman of Kiran Fine Jewellery. After the main Academy Awards ceremony, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy attended post-Oscar events on which she wore an ensemble by leading fashion designers Sana Safinaz with exclusive jewellery by Sherezad Rahimtoola.

Saving Face chronicles the work of acclaimed British Pakistani plastic surgeon, Dr Mohammad Jawad as he travelled to Pakistan and performed reconstructive surgery on survivors of acid violence. Acid violence, an extreme form of physical abuse, is systemically underreported in Pakistan; official figures state that 150 cases of acid violence are filed every year, though it is estimated that the actual figure is far greater. This is caused in part by structural inequalities that make it difficult for women to access the judicial system in addition to longstanding cultural practices that support gender discrimination. Saving Face is an account of such violence told by survivors through their personal journeys of endurance, recovery and reconciliation. Saving Face is equally a story about the ways in which women continue to struggle for justice in Pakistan as it is about their resilience and unwavering strength in overcoming difficult circumstances. The observational documentary was filmed entirely in Pakistan, primarily in the Seraiki belt in addition to Rawalpindi, Karachi and Islamabad.

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy hopes to screen Saving Face in Pakistan, with special screenings at local schools, colleges, universities and communities in order to spread awareness and promote dialogue within Pakistan.

Renowned for producing hard-hitting, character-driven content, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy continues to set new standards for documentary films that address cultural and political inequality. With a formidable list of awards under her belt including a coveted Emmy Award for her film ‘Pakistan’s Taliban Generation’, this is Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s first ever Oscar award.

Saving Face is set to air on America’s premier television cable network HBO, on March 8, 2012.

Who is Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy?

In 2001 the global view of terrorism and Muslims changed forever – and like the millions of people affected post 9/11, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, an aspiring journalist turned to the medium of visual storytelling, with a decision to work as an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker. Her vision has been to connect global audiences with the everyday lives of alienated and marginalised communities across the world. To date, Sharmeen’s work has taken her to over ten countries around the world where amongst other things she has had the opportunity to connect with refugees, women’s advocate groups and human rights defenders.

Sharmeen started her career in journalism while enrolled at the prestigious Smith College where she read Economics and Government, while freelancing as a writer for newspapers in the United States and Canada. She later completed her post graduate degrees in International Policy Studies in 2003 and Communication (Journalism) in 2004 from Stanford University.

Her work as an international documentary producer and correspondent progressed in 2002 when she started working at New York Times Television while she was still enrolled at Stanford. Since then, Sharmeen has worked as a producer, director & reporter at Channel 4 (2004-2009), a director & reporter at PBS Frontline World (2004-2009) and at Al Jazeera International (2006-2007). Indeed Sharmeen was one of the first Muslim women to be broadcast on mainstream Western media.

A multi-faceted entrepreneur, Sharmeen started her eponymous film production company Sharmeen Obaid Films in Toronoto in 2006 and recently opened a sister company in Karachi. Sharmeen has produced sixteen critically acclaimed films, all of which have been aired across international channels to global audiences including networks such as CNN, CBC, Channel 4, PBS, Al Jazeera and HBO. Sharmeen is also the co-founder of Pakistan’s leading non-profit organization dedicated to cultural and historic preservation, The Citizen’s Archive of Pakistan and continues to serve as the company’s President and leading cultural preservationist since its founding in 2007.  As a senior fellow at TED 2011 international, Sharmeen has also been one of the driving forces behind the locally organised Tedx Karachi events in both 2010 and 2011 where she reached out to iconic personalities such as Imran Khan and Mukhataran Mai, to share their stories of inspiration .

In September 2011 Sharmeen spoke at Google Zeitgeist in Arizona alongside the likes of Ted Kopple & Ariana Huffington. She was also selected as one of eleven rising young leaders from Asia by the Asia Society in 2011. and participated in the Asia Society’s sixth annual Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit, which was held in New Delhi India in November 2011.

Over her career, Sharmeen has received diverse international and national awards and accolades for her intrepid filmmaking and to this end, she has been the recipient of the esteemed International Emmy Award for her documentary Pakistan’s Taliban Generation (2010) and is still the first non US citizen to have received the coveted Livingston Award for Best International Reporting under the age of 35 in any medium, print and broadcast. She was also the proud recipient of the YWCA Toronto Women of Distinction award for her services in the field of Communication, making documentaries that touch upon the lives of women in extraordinary situations, from the refugee camps of Afghanistan, to the plight of aboriginal women in Western Canada.

Her ongoing projects include: Saving Face, a documentary chronicling the work the work of acclaimed British Pakistani plastic surgeon, Dr Mohammad Jawad as he travels to Pakistan and performs reconstructive surgery on survivors of acid violence.

Pakistani plastic surgeon aiding victims of acid attacks in Pakistan, which she is co-directing with acclaimed international director Daniel Junge. The film will air on HBO on March 8th  2012, Saving Face has won an Academy Award [Oscar] for the Best Documentary, Short Subject as announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; Transgender: Pakistans Open Secret is another more recent film with Sharmeen at the director’s helm – the film was released in the UK in December 2011. The film explores the lives of transsexuals in Pakistan who exist on the fringes of society.

Sharmeen is also producing an animated television series for children in Pakistan for national broadcast which endeavours to explore issues in identity, history and culture in Pakistan.

For more information on Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy Films visit http://sharmeenobaidfilms.com

By Sonya Rehman

With internet usage on the rise, Pakistanis are turning to the blogosphere and citizen journalism to share their opinions. Hosh Media epitomizes the growing popularity of locally-based, online portals for citizen journalism in Pakistan.

According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the number of broadband internet subscribers rose from 26,611 in 2005 to 1,656,800 in September 2011; an increase of 1.5 million subscribers. It is also estimated that as of 2011, Pakistan’s population stands at approximately 187 million; of this, the internet penetration is estimated at over 20 million.

Given the proliferation of internet usage in Pakistan, local citizen journalism portals have also seen a rise in popularity. SeenReport, Gawaahi, Maati TV, and other blogs and websites initiated by local media outlets and independent journalists/bloggers have given Pakistanis with access to the internet the chance to have their voices heard.

Hosh Media, though, has a specific focus as a citizen journalism portal. ‘Hosh’ is an Urdu word that loosely translated means ‘to awaken,’ and that is precisely what it hopes to do. By connecting the blogosphere and traditional reporting in Pakistan, founder and Pakistani journalist, Sahar Habib Ghazi, wanted to create a fresh way to engage the public while infusing news with youthful perspectives and voices.

Ghazi credits her time at Stanford University in California as a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow in 2010 for inspiring her to launch this citizen journalism initiative for Pakistanis.

“I came to Stanford with a proposal that aimed at countering the breaking news oriented tilt of our TV newsrooms,” Ghazi explained. “But the fellowship program exposed me to many exciting narratives on the digital and social media front. Within a few months, I was hooked. I decided I needed to bridge the divide between my people – journalists – and online communities – bloggers, activists and tweeters – in Pakistan. Stanford proved to be the perfect incubator for turning that concept into Hosh.”

While at Stanford, Ghazi met Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi and Shahid Saeed via blogging and tweeting. These two young Pakistanis proved to be vital to Hosh Media’s founding in May 2011, as well as its subsequent development.

Primarily known for his social activism in Pakistan, Zaidi is the portal’s Community Lead, while Saeed, a blogger, helped Ghazi establish the portal’s basic set-up. Saeed now works as an Archivist for Hosh along with Technical Lead Haleema Mehmood, Marketing Lead Farhan Kamal, and Operations Lead Nadia Zaffar.  All 5 employees comprise of the initiative’s core team of young Pakistanis.

“Our contributors – bloggers, students and activists – can now log onto hoshmedia.org and send in their videos, images and thoughts. Our team packages these crowd-sourced contributions into news stories for mainstream networks in Pakistan,” Ghazi stated in a Knight Fellowship talk.

Sahar Habib Ghazi during her Knight Fellowship talk

The role of citizen journalism in Pakistan today is “essential,” according to Ghazi. “The more voices straight from the ground,” she said, “the more representative and democratic our media will be.”

Hosh Media recently added six online journalism tutorials to its website which are short, interesting, well-packaged videos featuring veteran Pakistani journalist Abbas Nasir highlighting important subjects within journalism such as, “Covering Survivors of Abuse,” “Quoting Anonymous Sources,” and “News vs. Opinion,” among other topics. These tutorials serve as a reservoir of information and articulate instruction for budding citizen journalists and bloggers.

“Our larger goal is to make media in Pakistan more representative of the majority of Pakistan – the youth,” said Ghazi. “Two in three Pakistanis have yet to celebrate their thirtieth birthday; we are overwhelmingly a young country, and we believe these young voices need to be on the mainstream media.”

Hosh Media’s content is quickly gaining attention after its first digital article, “The Youth Speaks” was published on the website of the well-known Pakistani daily newspaper DAWN. The piece focused on youth reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden with crowd-sourced videos and text, according to Ghazi.

In response to that criticism citizen journalism lacks of objectivity, Ghazi argues that broadcast journalism in Pakistan can be biased too. “Our goal at Hosh is to take not one citizen report, but many crowd-sourced reports, curate and edit them into an objective, balanced news piece,” Ghazi said. “Take our story ‘The Youth Speaks,’ for example. It starts with a video featuring three individuals saying they don’t believe Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan, followed by another video featuring three individuals critiquing the army and the government’s role in the bin Laden affair. Balance is essential, and that is the value our editorial team adds to our crowd-sourced citizen reports.”

 AudienceScapes