RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s Academy award winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has announced a mentorship programme with the aim of empowering the next generation of female storytellers and help them make a mark on the global film industry, she said on Friday.
Obaid-Chinoy announced the initiative on Thursday, saying it was going to help those women who wanted to tell their stories to the world.
“As a filmmaker who lives and works in Pakistan, I’ve been very fortunate to have mentors who have enabled and opened doors for me around the world,” she told Arab News over the phone. “They have helped me tell the kind of stories I want to tell, and I think it’s time to pay it forward by enabling the next generation of female story tellers from Pakistan.”
The maker of the Oscar winning films, “Saving Face” and “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” launched Patakha Pictures by sharing the news on her social media account.
“Telling stories that matter is important to me and I also know how hard it is to find the finances and mentorship to do so,” Obaid-Chinoy wrote.
She added that many women had reached out to her over the years for help, and she wanted to empower them by taking the initiative.
“Young women across Pakistan want to be able to tell their stories and so today I’m launching a platform that I hope will help them do so!” she added.
The Pakistani filmmaker told Arab News the newly launched program was to help “women who have stories to tell and want to know how to tell them.”
She maintained that Patakha Pictures would give these aspiring filmmakers encouragement, funding and the required platform.
Patakha Pictures plans to finance short films that are under 40-minute duration. These films can fall into any genre, including fiction, documentary, animation and live action.
Obaid-Chinoy announced in a press release hopeful candidates could apply at any project production stage.
Fellow filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar told Arab News over the phone the initiative was “much needed.”
“It’s very important that more women get into the industry and in director producing roles,” she said. “I commend Sharmeen for starting this and wholly support it.”
