1. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a Pakistani journalist, filmmaker and political activist known for her work in films that highlight gender inequality against women.
26 Facts About Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was born on 12 November 1978 in Karachi, Pakistan.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a Gujarati Muslim, her mother Saba Obaid is a social worker and her father Sheikh Obaid, was a businessman.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has four younger sisters, including Mahjabeen Obaid, and a younger brother.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy asked many questions about the world, so her mother suggested that she put her questions in writing.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy then wrote to a local English language newspaper and by the age of 17 was doing investigative reporting for it.
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Later, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy received two master's degrees from Stanford University in Communication and International Policy Studies.
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In 2002, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy returned to Pakistan, and launched her career as a filmmaker with her first film Terror's Children for The New York Times.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's films have been aired on several international channels, including the PBS, CNN, Discovery Channel, Al Jazeera English and Channel 4.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has won seven Emmy Awards, including two in the International Emmy Award for Current Affairs Documentary category for the films Pakistan's Taliban Generation and Saving Face.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is the first non-American to win the Livingston Award for Young Journalists.
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In 2007, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy helped found the Citizens Archive of Pakistan, whose projects center around the preservation of Pakistan's cultural and social heritage.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy serves as the Ambassador for Blood Safety for Pakistan's national blood safety program.
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On 23 March 2012, Pakistan's president conferred the second highest civilian award, the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, on Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy for bringing honour to Pakistan as a filmmaker.
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In 2012, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy released the 5-part series Ho Yaqeen.
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In 2014, SOC Films and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy released Aghaz-e-Safar, a 12-episode series for Aaj News which tackled issues affecting ordinary Pakistanis across the country including child abuse, domestic violence, issues of gun violence, water scarcity, land grabbing etc.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy holds the records for being the first female film director to have won two Academy Awards by the age of 37 and the first person of Pakistani origin to be nominated for the Academy Award for best documentary in the short subject category, and the first person of Pakistani origin to win any Academy Award.
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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 legal loopholes which allow the perpetrators of the so-called honour killings to walk free.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's commercial venture Sulagta Sitara is a documentary series which was released on ARY Digital in 2016.
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In November 2017, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was awarded the 2017 Knight International Journalism Award, by the International Center for Journalists in Washington, DC.
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In 2018, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy spoke at TED in Vancouver about the impact of mobile cinema which has been traveling across Pakistan screening films for small towns and communities in all provinces.
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In September 2019, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy unveiled her animated film, Sitara: Let Girls Dream, in theaters in New York.
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is the honorary consul general for Norway in Karachi, Pakistan.
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In September 2022, Patakha Pictures, founded by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, launched "Pakistan Stories" in collaboration with the Scottish Documentary Institute and the British Council.
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In October 2022, it was reported that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy would be directing an untitled film set in the Star Wars universe, written by Steven Knight, from a previous draft by Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson.
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In February 2023 Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy introduced an international art residency program "Neela Asmaan" through SOC Films.