ISLAMABAD: Double Oscar and four-time Emmy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy has launched "Pakistan Stories," the first funding program aimed exclusively at supporting Pakistani women filmmakers.
The program under Chinoy's Patakha Pictures initiative was established in partnership with the Scottish Documentary Institute and British Council to develop and finance short films by 10 emerging women directors.
Launched to celebrate 75 years of Pakistan's independence "through the female gaze," the program aims to support women in developing their films in a "safe environment and reach new local and international audiences through their work," Patakha Pictures said in an announcement earlier this week.
For Chinoy, the maker of the Oscar winning films, “Saving Face” and “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” the initiative is a "passion project.
"Telling stories that matter is what I truly believe in so with our first ever funding and mentorship programme Pakistan Stories for Patakha Pictures, we want to empower and champion creative independence in visual storytelling and support a community of emerging and the next generation of female filmmakers who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision," she said.
The practice-led workshop by experts from Scotland and Pakistan is designed to help participants develop an understanding of creative documentary for festivals, finance their ideas, and connect them to local and international networks of filmmakers.
During the program, they will produce 10-minute documentaries that will be ready for national and international distribution.
Applications for the program close on Feb. 22.
