Producer and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is an Academy and Emmy Award winning filmmaker. She is known for A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015), Song of Lahore (2015) and Saving Face (2012). Obaid-Chinoy was born in Pakistan on November 12, 1978. She graduated from Stanford University; her career launcher was Terror’s Children, her first film.
Obaid-Chinoy’s filming work revolves around women’s issues and human rights. She has worked with refugees and marginalized communities from Syria to Saudi Arabia and from the Philippines to Timor Leste. In 2009 The Guardian Guide addressed her work as brave, brilliant and widely exasperating inspection of the Taliban’s revival in Pakistan, seen through the major, most defenseless part of the country, its children.
In 2012, Sharmeen created SOC FILMS, an independent production house in Karachi. This project focuses in making exploratory and motivational content on a social basis. She is also the leader in Waadi Animations, Pakistan’s first film animation production house which is producing Pakistan’s first feature length animated film.
Obaid-Chinoy has filmed in over 10 countries around the world and finished over 10 multi-award winning films. In 2012, Sharmeen was included in the annual list of the 100 most significant individuals in the world by Time Magazine. The Pakistani government gave her an award: Hilal-e-Imtiaz that same year due to her contributions to Culture and Arts.
The Canadian government awarded Sharmeen in 2013 with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her effort in the documentary films area and the WEF (World Economic Forum) privileged her with a Crystal Award at their annual conference in Davos.
In 2014, she was honored in New York by the Asia Society with an Asia Game Changer Award for making a positive transformation on the Asian and Worldwide future. Check a couple of her projects on www.socfilms.com and www.waadianimations.com