I became a documentary filmmaker because I wanted to make socially conscious films. I never studied filmmaking – everything I have learned has been on the field.
I believe in telling the truth.
All the women in Pakistan working for change, don’t give up on your dreams, this is for you.
Don’t give up your dreams.
When you play music, you don’t need a language. Music is a language.
In terms of ‘Saving Face,’ I was inspired by the stories of survivors who didn’t let their attacks stop them from pursuing justice and seeking treatment.
Education liberates a woman.
I hope I can make Pakistan proud by bringing home an Oscar.
I don’t think I’ll be making documentaries my whole life.
I’d like to do a film in Canada, but it’s too difficult. National Film Board funding takes too long, and there’s too much paperwork; by the time the film is approved the topic is dead and gone.
I think perhaps Pakistan can take the lead. Perhaps Turkey can as well, being part of Europe. But someone has to start talking about why the Muslim world has become a boiling pot and look beyond these cartoons to what the ideological reasons are for this divide.
Music is a universal language.
In December 2011, I will be opening up my production house, Sharmeen Obaid Films, and aspire to change the way Pakistanis approach nonfiction storytelling. There are thousands of stories to be found here.
Fighting the Taliban and the various radical organizations on the front lines is like adding a Band-Aid to a cut, it may stop the bleeding but unless you clean it with antiseptic, the germs stay and multiply.
Working in any country where you want to talk about the kind of issues that other people don’t want to talk about is difficult.
It’s often said that I choose subjects that are sensational! I choose to film subjects that spark difficult conversations and make people uncomfortable. Change only comes about when people are forced to discuss an issue, and that’s what I hope my films do.
Pakistan destroyed its own reputation. If anything, I have improved Pakistan’s image.
I’m generally quite an angry person, and I like to channel my anger toward something creative.
By giving our audience intimate access to the lives of musicians, we hope to raise awareness of the region’s beautiful cultural heritage and present a more nuanced portrait of its people.
As filmmakers, you’re not working on just one project, you’re producing something, directing something, shooting something, and so it becomes hard to do it by yourself.
But the biggest challenge overall was narrowing down the complex narrative elements into a clean and straightforward story while maintaining a sense of the cultural context that makes the film special.