Journalist and filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy hosted the premiere of her latest animation short film ‘Sitara – Let Girls Dream’ at Nueplex Cinemas in Karachi on Monday.
SITARA was released on International Women’s Day [8th March 2020] on Netflix, the world’s leading internet entertainment service, in over 190 countries. Indeed, SITARA is the first Pakistani Animated Film to be released and distributed by NETFLIX USA.
Written and directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, ‘Sitara – Let Girls Dream’ takes the audience on a journey through the old city of Lahore, where a fourteen-year-old girl named Pari, dreams of becoming a pilot. Her story is told from the perspective of her younger sister, Mehr, and portrays the impact of a culture and the burdens of a family where girls still struggle to fully realize their dreams. SITARA is a silent film [no dialogues] which embodies this conflict.
The premiere was attended by personalities such as State Bank of Pakistan Governor Reza Baqir, Habib Bank Limited President and Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Aurangzeb, ARY Digital Network Founder and President Salman Iqbal, ARY Digital Network CEO Jerjees Seja, actors Ayesha Omar, Sanam Saeed, Adeel Hussain, Ushna Shah and Zahid Ahmed, singer and songwriter Jimmy Khan, director Saqib Malik and fashion designers Safinaz Muneer, Feeha Jamshed and Maheen Khan, to name a few. Public relations for the premiere was done by Lotus PR.
SITARA had earlier won three awards at the Los Angeles Animation Festival 2019 in North Hollywood in December 2019 in the categories of Best Produced Screenplay, Best Music Score and the Humanitarian Award.
Chinoy had also earlier launched a campaign with GUCCI’s social impact initiative Chime for Change to #LetGirlsDream by encouraging 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 inspire and encourage girls to hold meaningful conversations about their dreams and how to best achieve them. The website for the campaign is www.LetGirlsDream.org
The music for SITARA has been composed by Grammy and Emmy Award-Winning composer Laura Karpman. Produced by VICE Studios, the film’s Executive Producers include Gloria Steinem, the iconic women’s rights activist, Darla Anderson, the Academy Award-winning producer of Coco and Toy Story 3, VICE Media Group’s CEO Nancy Dubuc, and Emmy-nominated Ariel Wengroff as well as Chinoy’s own animation production studio, Waadi Animations with Imke Fehrmann as the producer of 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 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.
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.
The premiere was attended by personalities such as State Bank of Pakistan Governor Reza Baqir, Habib Bank Limited President and Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Aurangzeb, ARY Digital Network Founder and President Salman Iqbal, ARY Digital Network CEO Jerjees Seja, actors Ayesha Omar, Sanam Saeed, Adeel Hussain, Ushna Shah and Zahid Ahmed, singer and songwriter Jimmy Khan, director Saqib Malik and fashion designers Safinaz Muneer, Feeha Jamshed and Maheen Khan, to name a few
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.
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 honored her with a Crystal Award at their annual summit in Davos. In 2017 the International Center 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 honor “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.
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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; French visionary Gaspar Noé’s Climax; and Chris Smith’s Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.