Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy: Pakistan’s ‘guerilla filmmaker’ | Film

#Sharmeen #Obaid #Chinoy #Pakistans #guerilla #filmmaker #Film

When I google Sherman Obaid Chinoy’s name, the terms that pop up are “guerrilla filmmaker” and “Oscar lady.” While most people think of her as a filmmaker, and that’s certainly an apt description of what she does, Sherman, 37, is equally, if not more, associated with the term “journalist.” Identifies.

Sherman laughed heartily when I asked her about being an “Oscar Lady.” It is around 12 midnight. A beautiful sunny afternoon is upon us as I head out to Sherman’s office in Karachi. Upon arrival, I am greeted by posters of Sherman’s films as I am led to his office on the first floor. Sitting in a chair, facing the laptop, Sherman looks up as I walk in and waves as we sit, fiddling with her phone to record the interview. Sherman politely asked: “Are you recording this?” I tell him yes and he observes: “Well. You know I wonder how people remember everything…”

Between offers of refreshments and a reminder from the crew about the upcoming shoot, we chat about everything under the sun – from motherhood to music to hanging out with Meryl Streep in the name of honor. To the horrific problem of murder that is strangling innocent lives all over Pakistan. What is clear is that Sherman has strong convictions, doesn’t shy away from tough questions and ultimately wants to make Pakistan a better place for her children. There is no better reason.

Excerpts from the conversation:

Step: 2015 has been a remarkable year for you in terms of multiple releases…

Sherman Obaid Chinoy (SOC): It’s been a big year for me because I think I’ve had a lot of babies. I gave birth to a child physically a few months ago. I have also released four films: Song of Lahore, A Journey of a Thousand Miles, 3 Bahadur and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.

Step: Congratulations on the Oscar nod…

SOC: thanks…

Step: how do you feel You’ll be going out for the Oscars later this month.

SOC: This time I have to say that I am more determined to get the Honor Killing Bill passed in Parliament. I’m making more noise about this than the Academy Award because I have the Academy Award and if my nomination can shine a light on an issue that so many people have been working on for so long and doing remarkable work… Sometimes something cosmic happens that brings attention to a problem and hopefully helps all the great people who have been working on the problem for years.

Step: How challenging is it to make films like Girl in the River, Saving Face? These are important stories that need to be told, but how do you deal with something so painful? How do you go about making films that deal with such intolerance and injustice, issues that are pushed under the carpet?

SOC: To be honest, I’ve always seen – whether it’s in Pakistan or any other country I’ve filmed in – issues that people are reluctant to talk about or people find it difficult because I don’t like looking at myself. Looking at the country and these issues. I don’t like to know that 1000 women are killed every year in the name of honor in Pakistan. By the way, this is the reported number; The unreported number is much higher. I don’t like seeing women’s faces disfigured in this country. I don’t like knowing that minors are being raped now. Every day in a Pakistani newspaper you will find a story of a minor child being raped. Every single day. They are as important to me as terrorism, as important as poverty and that is where I get my passion. I would like to see my country and be proud of how it treats its women.

Step: You are a mother, you have children, yes?

SOC: Yes, I have two daughters.

Step: How do you cope with school, having children and the risk of facing it? Do you live in Pakistan?

SOC: Yes, I live here like everyone else. We all have the same problems, we all have kids, we all have the same worries but we all live here and work here and do the best we can. We’ve been given a difficult set of circumstances and I think there are many people in this country, nameless people we don’t even know, who risk their lives every day for a better tomorrow for the rest of us. I am putting We owe it to them, ourselves and future generations to leave a better Pakistan for them. People always ask me why I choose to live in Pakistan when I can live anywhere in the world and my answer is that Pakistan is my home.

People ask me, ‘Why don’t you make a movie about rap in America? (and this is the most common thing I get told) and to win an Oscar for that and my answer is that I don’t live in America. I live in Pakistan, why don’t I make a film on rap in Pakistan? If I lived in America, I would make a movie about rap in America. There are many people who live in America and make films on such issues and are nominated for Academy Awards. If I live in Pakistan, I will make films about Pakistan and if you don’t like the issues I have to highlight, then you better work to address those issues because then you will have a clear No problem with me, you have a problem with the problem but it’s easy to target me and not the problem.

Instep: There’s a perception (and it’s probably unfounded) that to get a movie into the Oscars it takes a bit of work, you need to be “connected”?

SOC: When my film made it to the Academy Awards in 2012, I was not associated with it.

Step: For the positivity with which people have greeted this nomination, there has been some negative feedback….

SOC: Yes, but people who don’t know how the Academy works and what the inner workings of the Academy or the nomination process are, just can’t explain how Academy Award nominations are made.

Step: Echoes include things like “she went to college abroad, she knows the right people”…

SOC: Leonardo DiCaprio went to college, he’s a big Hollywood star. Does he have an Oscar? I rest my case.

Step: Moving on to the wonderful song of Lahore, Sachal’s story is incredible and somehow we have failed to highlight him properly. Lahore’s song, on the other hand, does it with a lot of soul. It is also playing in select theaters in the US.

SOC: It will hit theaters in Pakistan in a few months. Lahore’s song is the Pakistan of my grandfather, a Pakistan where there were big orchestras and concerts, where people dressed up and played Pakistani classical instruments, where musicians earned a living through their music, where When a head of state came. For a visit, the Pakistani prime minister would get an entire orchestra to play for him. It is a sense of Pakistan’s former self, its lost glory and its past and for this generation that we have such a rich history and such a rich culture and our music (not just the music that (we hear today) but our musical past and our instruments are very much part of the fabric of this country.

SOL is the beautiful story of a man who is Pakistani, has lived abroad all his life and decides to set up a studio to bring together great masters of Pakistani instruments to create music. And they experiment with jazz, which becomes a number one hit on iTunes. My camera has been there since day one, following them to New York where they give a standing ovation and travel back to Pakistan. It’s a film with beautiful music and an album coming out now that I helped orchestrate with Universal Music in the United States. It is a collaboration between Floating Studios and American artists. The album will be released in April and is named after the movie Song of Lahore.

Step: I got pictures of Cool Newton dancing to the sounds of Floating Studio. Meryl Streep has endorsed it. It has created a lot of positive vibes…

SOC: I have always been a very proud Pakistani. I wear Pakistani dress in every event in my life. I try to show what I can about this country and Song of Lahore allowed me to bring that face of Pakistan to the West. We wrote to Meryl Streep and she agreed to host the screening. You will hear very soon that she is doing something with the couple, for which I am very grateful. Thandie Newton is a very dear friend of mine and she loved his music and attended the event. It is our pleasure to bring this face of Pakistan to the world. These are some of the greatest musicians I have ever heard.

Step: You made a full-scale foray into the world of cinema with the animated feature 3 Bahadur. Let’s talk about it…

SOC: I must have done it because I am so connected.

Step: Touch but seriously, box office plays, people have to buy tickets. Is it a neurological disorder?

SOC: In my career, the night before a film comes out, I’ve always been very nervous. It’s like having a baby. There is a gestation period and you carry it for so long and then you deliver it to the world and then you wait for the world to embrace it. People were going to see something that I helped put together for three years. When I started 3 Bahadur, everyone was like it will never go to the cinema, no one is going to see it…

Step: My nephew saw it and then he came and wanted to play the 3 Bahadur video game and I was so happy because instead of Chhota Bheem he had these characters that we created….

SOC: You are one of hundreds of people who have told me this. I get stopped at malls and restaurants. Parents tell their children that she has become 3 brave. And it couldn’t be a better feeling because I love the fact that people want their children to have Pakistani role models, these Pakistani characters. Now we are working on the second film of 3 Bahadur and its exciting because we are doing something fantastic with it and we are moving forward. If you ask me, to be honest, my biggest joy in 2015 (besides having a baby) was giving 3 Bahadur to Pakistani children.

Step: It takes an Oscar nomination for a prime minister to pledge to end the horrific case of honor killings.

SOC: I believe that sometimes there are things that motivate a leader to do more. I think the Oscar nomination inspired him to do something. And I am grateful that Prime Minister Sharif made this statement. Given the nature of the country we live in, it takes a brave Prime Minister to make such a statement. Look, he is the father of girls and the grandfather of granddaughters. I’m sure he doesn’t want to leave a legacy in Pakistan where honor killings are condoned, where people get away with murder. Forget that he is the head of the country. Let’s as a father and grandfather, what is the legacy that they want to leave the women in their family.