Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s “Saving face” Nominated for 5 Emmy Awards
Posted by ALI
Saving face is a 2012 documentary that was addressed by the Sherman Ovid corny. This documentary is about acid attack on women. Pakistan based doctor Dr Jawad follows the film. He is a plastic surgeon and after this film, he journeys to Pakistan to perform reconstructive surgery on survivors of acid violence. Saving Face also broaches the subject of the under-reporting of acid violence upon women due to cultural and structural inequalities in them from Pakistani men. The film also features two women attacked by acid and their struggle for justice and healing. The Acid Survivors Foundation of Pakistan, which is featured in the film, had documented over 100 acid attacks a year in Pakistan but estimates far more due to lack of reporting. Obaid-Chinoy stated that the film is “a positive story about Pakistan on two accounts firstly, it depicts how a Pakistani-British doctor comes to treating them and it also discusses, in great depth, the parliament’s decision to draw a bill on acid violence. Obaid-Chinoy has also stated that the film assisted in the trial and conviction of one of the perpetrators of acid violence on a female victim.
- Saving Face won the 84th Academy Awards for Best Documentary
- Saving Face won the best documentary award at the 2012 SAARC Film Awards.
- Saving Face won Best Documentary at the New York Indian Film Festival.
While Speaking about the Emmy nominations, film director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy said,
This is not the first time one of our films has been recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, having previously won an International Emmy Award in the Current Affairs category for the documentary ‘Pakistan’s Taliban Generation’, but I must say that the spirit of elation and nervous excitement still remains the same! It really is encouraging to know that Saving Face has received such a tremendous international response. I hope that we can make Pakistan proud once again with another Emmy. Fingers crossed!”
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be attending the prestigious awards distribution ceremony in October, previously missing the opportunity to attend the event when her film “Pakistan’s Taliban Generation” won in 2010 due to the sudden death of her father, to whom she will dedicate the Emmy should Saving Face win this year.
Saving Face has achieved significant acclaim in the international film and arts community and has garnered many illustrious awards including the eminent Academy Award (Oscar), IDA Documentary Award, Juliane-Bartel Award, Germany, Abu Dhabi Film Festival Audience Choice Award, New York Indian Film Festival “Best Documentary Film” and the SAARC Film Award for “Best Documentary”.
Saving Face chronicles the work of acclaimed British Pakistani plastic surgeon, Dr Mohammad Jawad as he travelled to Pakistan and performed reconstructive surgery on survivors of acid violence. Acid violence, an extreme form of physical abuse, systemically underreported in Pakistan; official figures state that 150 cases of acid violence filed every year, though it is estimated that the actual figure is far greater.
