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PHOTO: TWITTER
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on Sunday became the first Pakistani to win two Oscar awards on Sunday.
Oabid won in the Best Documentary Short Subject for A Girl In The River in the 88th Academy awards. The documentary which sheds light on honour killings in Pakistan follows the story of a teenage girl shot in the face by her own family.
Honour killing issue would gain traction if film wins Oscar: Sharmeen Obaid
“I have another one!” said Sharmeen as she took the stage to accept the award.
“This week the Pakistani PM said he would change the law on honor killing after watching this film — that is the power of film!” she added.
The filmmaker also took to Facebook to announce, “Pakistan, we just won our 2nd Oscar!!”
In 2012, Obaid made history as she won the Academy Award for her documentary Saving Face at the 84th Annual Academy Awards in 2012, Pakistan’s first Oscar.
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy mingles with Hollywood bigwigs at Oscar luncheon
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness tells the story of 19-year-old Saba who was beaten, shot and thrown into the river after she ran off to marry her fiance, whom her family initially accepted — and then decided was too poor.
Survivors of honour killings are rare and the film offers a stark look at the pain — physical and emotional — inflicted on Saba, her extraordinary resilience and ultimate failure to see her father and uncle convicted.
They beat her, shot her in the face and dumped her in a burlap sack in the river.
At the last moment, she tilted her head, meaning the bullet grazed her cheek instead of shattering her skull. Somehow she managed to cling to the bushes and pull herself out of the water. She went to police and to hospital.
Sharmeen Obaid’s ‘A Girl in the River’ to be screened at PM House on Monday
Obaid-Chinoy, who read about her ordeal one morning in the newspaper, tracked her down and filmed Saba’s story over eight to nine months in 2014.
In Pakistan, a loophole in the law allows the perpetrators of so-called honour killings to get off scot-free if they are pardoned by their family.
Saba initially seeks a conviction, but eventually relents under the weight of pressure from her brother-in-law and community elders who say it is better to resolve enmity than let it fester.
Obaid-Chinoy wants to change that. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hosted a screening of the film in Islamabad last week and has promised to rid Pakistan of the crime by tightening up the legislation.
Sharmeen Obaid wins second Oscar award - The Express Tribune