The woman who brought the Oscar to us back in 2012 with her documentary “Saving Faces”, has yet again bagged a nomination at the 88th Academy Awards, for her documentary “A Girl In the River”. The documentary focuses on the life of an 18-year old girl, who survived an honor killing attempt by her father and uncle, which she miraculously survived. This documentary, which is a joint production with the journalist Tina Brown and Producer Sheila Nevins, is attracting contrasting opinions just like the last one did.
While some appreciate the effort made by her to highlight such a heinous crime, others are arguing that this film is presenting Pakistan in a negative light and is not doing justice to its damaged image in the international media. Like all of Sharmeen’s films and documentaries, which include “Terror’s Children”, this documentary follows the same pattern of carrying out a strong message related to Pakistan, not only across the borders, but all over the world. The main concern is that although the acts which are discussed in her documentaries are not a part of the Pakistani culture, and are condemned by Pakistani’s themselves, yet their existence itself is taken as almost a validation that Pakistan is an ignorant and backward nation.
Moreover, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is one of THE most talented people in our country and her nominations along with her massive award list provide ample proof of that.
Other nominees for “The Best Documentary (Short Subject)” category include Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah, Last Day of Freedom, Body Team 12, Chau and Beyond the Lines. We all have our fingers crossed and we hope to see Sharmeen come back with another Oscar.
Contributed by: Sania Waseem.
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