Directors that Inspire Change

          The film I want to discuss is, Saving Face, by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel Junge.  The film is about two women and how they deal with the horrible acid attacks against them.  The evidence leads to their husbands as the culprits.  The director and primary mover of the project was Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.  She is a Canadian-Pakistani who has made other films such as Pakistan’s Taliban, Iraq: The Lost Generation, Lifting the Veil/ Afghanistan Unveiled, and Terror’s Children.  We can speculate from all of her films that she is very close to her country and the issues that surround the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Her films are about showing the hidden truth and being able to do it in a compelling way.  She makes a statement with each of her films and brings home the message.  Her work with Saving Face, touches on the violence against women through acid attacks.

            She is also the first Pakistani and woman to win an Oscar for Saving Face and an Academy Award for best documentary short.  As mentioned in the article by CBC Canada news, “Obaid-Chinoy was born and raised in Karachi but married a Canadian citizen and now splits her time between Toronto and her various filming locales.”  I have posted the links below to the article, including the phone interview.  She mentions that Canada had an influence in her film saying “I’m inspired by the stance that Canada takes on many human rights situations.”  She has also been listed on the TIME magazine’s top 100 most influential people as you will see below. 

Photo by Joel Ryan/ Associated Press/ Taken from CBC Canada News Article

            Her construction of the documentary is very well constructed and as the Guardian mentions in their article by Alia Waheed, “the true cost of the deliberate disfigurement of women in Pakistan, attracted worldwide attention, and not just for the lifting of the veil on a hitherto little-known world.  Waheed also mentions that, “she was the first journalist to be allowed to film in Saudi Arabia about its fledging women’s rights movement.”  Her advocating for the women in Pakistan is something well needed in the country where, “a survey by Trust Law ranked Pakistan the third most dangerous place for women in the world... [and] according to the human rights commission of Pakistan, nearly 700 women were victims of honour killings in the period between 2009-2010 and 90% of women have been victims of domestic violence” (Waheed). 

            Her as an auteur is very evident in her film style and her choice of topic.  She wants to portray the way women are suffering in Pakistan through this documentary and does this with direct questions to the perpetrators and the victims.  Sometimes the effect of the empty silence after a difficult question is asked tells the entire truth.  Especially when she asks one of the abusive husbands if he had burned his wife, which was a powerful scene because she pushes it further by asking why he has burn marks on his hands if he didn’t do anything.  She doesn’t get a straight answer but the truth is obvious. 

            The director does an exceptional job with this film and it is a must watch.  Obaid-Chinoy in the role of director is an empowering message to all women in Pakistan who are suffering from inequality to see her as an inspiration for change.  She brought forth an issue that has not been widely covered and has caused worldwide attention to this little known violence against the women of Pakistan.


Bibliography:

CBC Canada News Article

Guardian Article by Alia Waheed

Link to Audio Interview

TIME Magazine Top 100

Appearance on TED.com