Daily Times

Netflix, the world’s leading internet entertainment service, is all set to release filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s ‘Sitara – Let Girls Dream’ in 2020 which will be available in over 190 countries.

Indeed, SITARA is the first Pakistani Animated Film to be released and distributed by NETFLIX USA.

Written and directed by two-time Academy and three-time Emmy Award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, ‘Sitara – Let Girls Dream’ takes the audience on a journey through the old city of Lahore, where, Pari, a 14-year-old girl dreams of becoming a pilot and whose story is told through the perspective of her younger sister Mehr. It is a story about the burdens of a family and the impact of a culture where girls are still struggling to fully realize their dreams. SITARA is a silent film [no dialogues] which embodies this struggle.

“Waadi Animations is proud to have created an animated short that is at par with the best of the world and we are delighted that ‘Sitara’ will be available to a global audience on Netflix. We hope it will lead to thoughtful discussions as we also begin screening the film in schools and community centres around the world. We strongly believe that Investing in the dreams of young girls will lead to a more equitable world,” said Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

Chinoy had earlier launched a campaign with GUCCI’s social impact initiative Chime for Change to #LetGirlsDream by encourage girls around the world to share their dreams and gain inspiration from one another. A robust school outreach program is already underway across the world to encourage girls to hold meaningful conversations about their dreams and how to achieve them. The website for this campaign is www.LetGirlsDream.org

The music for SITARA has been composed by Grammy and Emmy Award-Winning composer Laura Karpman.

Finances and produced by VICE Studios, the film’s Executive Producers include Gloria Steinem, the iconic women’s rights activist, and Darla Anderson, the Academy Award Winning producer of Coco and Toy Story 3, VICE Media Group CEO Nancy Dubuc and Emmy-nominated Ariel Wengroff as well as Sharmeen’s animation production company Waadi Animation with Imke Fehrmann as the producer for SITARA: LET GIRLS DREAM.

In Pakistan, the Waadi Animations Team is spearheaded by Art Director Salman Nasir, Animation Director Kamran Khan, CG Lighting Supervisor Adnan Saeed, Director of Photography Faizan Ali, Editor Husain Qaizer, Sound Effects Editor Sameer Khan, co-producer Eleyna Sara Haroun and Associate Producer Syed Ayub with Salman Iqbal, Jerjees Seja, Imke Fehrmann and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy as the producers.

Indeed, SITARA: LET GIRLS DREAM will join a growing slate of Netflix animated titles for families, which includes feature films Klaus from Sergio Pablos [November 2019] as well as The Willoughbys from Kris Pearn and Over The Moon from Glen Keane in 2020. Waadi Animations, with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy as the CEO and Founder, was the first animation company in Pakistan to produce feature-length animation films, under the franchise name 3 Bahadur. With the aim of creating a set of heroes that would resonate with Pakistani children and inspire them to create meaningful social change and become heroes within their own communities, SITARA is the fourth animated film produced by Waadi Animations.

Sharmeen is a two-time Academy Award-winner and three-time Emmy Award-winner. She is known for her work in films that highlight the inequality of women. She is the only female director to have won two Academy Awards by the age of 37, and the first Pakistani to win an Academy Award. Since 2001, she has made over two dozen multi award films in over 16 countries around the world. Her films include 3 BAHADUR, STUDENT ATHLETE, GIRL IN THE RIVER, SONG OF LAHORE, SAVING FACE, PEACE KEEPERS and TRANSGENDERS: PAKISTAN’S OPEN SECRET.

‘Waadi Animations is proud to have created an animated short that is at par with the best of the world and we are delighted that Sitara will be available to a global audience on Netflix. We hope it will lead to thoughtful discussions as we also begin screening the film in schools and community centres around the world’

In 2013, the Canadian government awarded her a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her work in the field of documentary films and the World Economic Forum honoured her with a Crystal Award at their annual summit in Davos. In 2017 the International Centre for Journalists awarded her the Knight International Journalism Award for her work that led to legislative change.

In 2012, Time Magazine included Sharmeen in their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. That same year the Pakistan Government awarded her with highest civil honour “Hilal-e-Imtiaz.”

In 2017, Sharmeen was the first artist to co-chair the “World Economic Forum” at Davos. Sharmeen holds a Bachelor’s degree from Smith College and two masters degrees from Stanford University. In 2018, Smith College awarded her an honorary degree in Fine Arts.

Netflix is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with 158 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

VICE Studios is a global television and feature film production facility from VICE Media, encompassing the development, production, financing, and distribution of multi-platform content for audiences globally. With outposts in the US, UK, EMEA, Latin America and Canada, VICE Studios produces quality scripted, entertainment and factual formats.

A natural extension of VICE’s bolstering content offering, VICE Studios launched in 2017, with the intention of furthering VICE Media’s expansive library of news, documentary and entertainment programming. To date, VICE TV and Film projects have been recognized by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Peabody Awards, Venice International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Lions, British Journalism Awards, British Media Awards, Broadcast Digital Awards, and AOPs amongst others.

Boasting a curated slate of culturally focused films and television, the current slate features the Harmony Korine helmed comedy, The Beach Bum, starring Matthew McConaughey; black-metal feature Lords Of Chaos starring Rory Culkin; The Report starring Adam Driver and Annette Bening; out of Australia, the Mia Wasikowska drama Judy and Punch; In the UK Satanic Verses (BBC); French visionary Gaspar Noé’s Climax; and Chris Smith’s Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.