A child bride and an elite officer: Film tells story of resilient women

Freedom Fighters has been shortlisted for 2020 Emmys

APakistani policewoman battling rising levels of violence against women in her country is one of three women featured in an Emmynominated film that highprofile filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy hopes will inspire other women.

Obaid-Chinoy, winner of two Oscars and seven previous Emmys, said Freedom Fighters tells the stories of elite police officer Saima Sharif, former child bride Tabassum Adnan, and Syed Ghulam Fatima, an activist who took on the brick industry.

It is important for girls to be inspired. Such films open their minds to the multitude of possibilities there are.”

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy | Filmmaker

Driven to push for change

Known for films that highlight women’s inequality, Obaid-Chinoy said all three women’s lives were shaped by their own experiences which drove them to push for change, despite facing threats along the way.

“We need leaders like these three, emerging from the grass roots, from the neighbourhood and communities they come from and work in, and who are invested in them,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Every year thousands of women in Pakistan face some form of violence, ranging from acid attacks, to sexual assault, kidnapping, rape or murder, often in the name of honour.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent watchdog, stated in its annual report of 2019 that “despite legislation enacted to protect and promote women’s rights in recent years, violence against women has escalated”.

Obaid-Chinoy, who was the first Pakistani to win an Academy Award with her 2012 film Saving Face inspired by the life of acid victim Fakhra Younus, said Freedom Fighters continued her focus on resilient Pakistani women. She also won an Oscar in 2016 for her documentary A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness about a so-called honour killing in Pakistan which prompted then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to declare his commitment to eliminate such murders.

Shortlisted for Emmys

“Freedom Fighters” was this month named on the shortlist of the 2020 Emmys with the winners to be announced on September 21.

“It is important for girls to be inspired. Such films open their minds to the multitude of possibilities there are,” said ObaidChinoy.