Daily Times

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy declares Rs10m grant for women filmmakers

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a two-time Academy Award winner, has announced Pakistan’s ‘biggest’ filmmaking grant for women, Rs 10 million, through Patakha Pictures, funding, and mentorship platform developed in collaboration with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi [ITA] and the US Consulate General Karachi.

“Stories from Southern Pakistan” is a program. According to the announcement, filmmakers from the United States and Scotland have been invited in as mentors for the program.

Patakha Pictures was founded to inspire and support a new generation of female Pakistani filmmakers who want to make interesting films about women’s empowerment, violence against women and minorities, arts, culture, climate change, and peace-building.

According to the announcement, for the first grant, which will be awarded in February 2022, ten female filmmakers worked in pairs for 12 weeks to enhance their creative skills and create five short films. All of these films are now screening at various film festivals across the world, with two of them receiving international honors.

For the second grant, one documentary filmmaker was chosen as a Taiwan Pitch Pakistan Fellow Grantee and got $10,000 USD to attend the “Talent Village” workshop in Taiwan and develop a short non-fiction film.

For the third grant, Stories from Southern Pakistan, which will open for applications on November 6, 2022, 20 aspiring filmmakers will be given a grant of up to PKR 1 million per pair to create 10 short films (10-20 minutes in duration). Patakha Pictures will assist, foster, and develop fellows’ creative skills as part of the mentorship process, allowing grantees to reach new local and worldwide audiences through their work.

“I’ve been extremely impressed by the success of Patakha Pictures’ funding programs, especially now that many of our fellows’ films are being presented and earning international acclaim.”

At this historic juncture, I am incredibly delighted to announce the beginning of our third and largest-ever funding program for female filmmakers in Pakistan.

We understand how important this financing is for filmmakers to realize their ideas, and this time we’re making a special effort to recruit women from smaller towns and villages in Sindh and Balochistan,” Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy stated.

Interested female filmmakers from Sindh and Balochistan can apply at https://socfilms.com/index.php/patakha-pictures/. Applicants must apply in groups of two. The application period is from November 6 through November 25, 2022. The seminars will begin in January 2023.

The training program will run from January through August 2023, with virtual sessions held twice a month.

The workshops will consist of seminars and consultant-led advising sessions led by worldwide specialists.

This mentorship will include sessions on storytelling, developing narratives and characters, directing, sound design, and editing, followed by a week-long gathering in Karachi to finalize the editing of the films, with a closing event in September 2023 to celebrate and mark the successful completion of production of films created by our fellows.

“Gender Equality is all about developing transformative talents for Pakistan’s young female filmmakers; those chosen on merit will have the unique opportunity to visualize and communicate tales inside and beyond borders.”

“This would not have been feasible without the generous donation of the US Consulate General Karachi and the ever-vibrant partnership of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (SOC),” remarked Baela Raza Jamil of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi [ITA].

“We are pleased to announce yet another initiative of the United States Mission to Pakistan to strengthen the film industry in Pakistan with the goal of promoting women’s empowerment and driving economic growth while strengthening cultural linkages between the two countries.” This endeavor is an excellent approach to discovering the country’s genuine potential and talent. The United States is a fantastic market for Pakistani media, and we hope that by training more filmmakers, we will be able to empower more Pakistanis to convey the story of this beautiful country and deepen our people-to-people ties,” Anastasia Kolivas, Public Diplomacy Officer of the US Consulate in Karachi, said.

This project was partially financed by a grant from the US Department of State. The author[s]’ opinions, findings, and conclusions are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.