“As a Pakistani filmmaker and journalist I am so pleased and honored that Outlawed in Pakistan won an Emmy last night in New York! It was a film that took me and co-director Hilke Schellmann five years to make. This was unbelievable and something that I could have never imagined as a little girl growing up in Lahore,” Habiba Nosheen told The Express Tribune.
The documentary focuses on Kainat Soomro, who was raped by four men while she was on her way back home from school in the city of Dadu. The film follows Kainat’s struggle for justice. Pakistani-Canadian Habiba has received several other awards including the Gracie Award for Outstanding Correspondent and was recognised by the Alliance for Women in Media as a reporter.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2014.
COMMENTS (18)
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@Parvez, creating awareness to remove the wrongs need not at all be done on international stages and by running in competition for winning awards. To raise awareness, even raising it on a local channel or in the local newspapers or by running a local campaign - that would be enough. What films or documentaries have Edhi or Akhuwaat or the Burney trust made up, and then gone in the running for an award? And that too -- with the help of goras? Do you think the West is really concerned about us? Except for the Asian Gold, the other projects were all initiated by Western foreigners. These documentaries and films and stories are going out to the world, for entertainment/media/business, not to raise awareness among the people who need to hear about these issues in order to correct them.
@Pervez,exposing such negative issues need not be done with the help of foreigners (oh you think they really care about us??), and it need not be done in international documentary competitions to win awards. Raising awareness can, and is, easily done using other avenues by people who are sincerely concerned about those issues and not about their glittering careers.
To add to this, someone tweeted: "In the last 20 months, Pakistani women have brought home an Oscar, an Emmy, a Nobel Peace Prize, and the Asian Gold in cricket."
Aside from the cricket award, everything is about "oppression of Muslim/Pakistani", and in each of them is the hand of a gora. Encore! But on the topic of Malala, check out a very different kind of video, a short interview with someone from Swat who questions that Malala's struggle for education, because it was a right she apparently wasn't even deprived of to begin with: miraatu.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/whats-with-the-anti-malala-camp/
To add to this, someone tweeted: "In the last 20 months, Pakistani women have brought home an Oscar, an Emmy, a Nobel Peace Prize, and the Asian Gold in cricket."
Aside from the cricket award, everything is about "oppression of Muslim/Pakistani", and in each of them is the hand of a gora. Encore! But on the topic of Malala, check out a very different kind of video, a short interview with someone from Swat who questions that Malala's struggle for education, because it was a right she apparently wasn't even deprived of to begin with: http://wp.me/p3U1Sx-2Z
@arif: Sir, the bad name does not come from making / showing such movies.......it comes for the country being associated with the subject of such moves. The movie creates an awareness that works towards getting rid of the ' wrong '......so that's a good thing.
Second attempt at a comment : Well done....congratulations. Having said that and I meant it.....I'd like to say that though subjects like this are necessary to raise an awareness, there are also subjects that tell the story of human endeavour and achievements. Now immediately one will say ' what stories ? ' and that is exactly why such stories also need to be told.
Havent you got anything good to show about Pakistan? If you only require to show the worst of a country, then why not show as USA with most homicides and children born without fathers?
Want to get award? Want to get recognized globally? Here is a short cut!
Make a movie to defame Pakistan, on issues that are not too common in Pakistan and portray it to the world as a massive issue, like if Pakistan is suffering from this issue along with other 'so many' issues, and sweep the real issues under the carpet that are actually affecting the whole country because of the enemies of Pakistan.
Present it to the people, where the intensity of such cases is much higher than that of Pakistan and get endorsed.
All the best girl!
This Emmy was NOT won by any Pakistani. One director is a Canadian of Pakistani descent and the other one is German.
CONGRATULATIONS! Typical Pakistani to take all the glitter, glamor, and glory. Habiba Nosheen, madam...please share the honors with your near and dear friends and associates rather than take all the credit. Frankly, you could not do this all by yourself. Thanks and Salams
My views are same what I wrote on Arif's observations. I must appreciate that you guys did the autopsy of the news in a very constructive way and tried to emphase and uncover the hidden motive which lies behind such awards. Congratulations to both of you.@Shahid:
You have a very valid point Arif. I fully endorse your views. Thanks for raising this glaring fact. Keep it up and continue doing constructive critism. @arif:
@arif: Well I think we shouldn't care about a good or bad name for Pakistan, because our finances run on charity and loans and we have begging from these non-muslim nations for quite a long now and in return they can expect favors. Further, the world's stage has become a unique market where selling diseases and poverty has become the best seller product, it's good in raising awareness among the masses but it's like sharing a bad news on facebook and you end up getting hundreds of LIKES, though the bad news is never intended to share to get LIKES...
Anachievement no doubt but Im a little confused. Here we are telling the world that in Pakistan, women are nothing more than victims of rape and acid attacks. This is not the case. Same things happen in India as well but they havent gone around the world defaming their country. Rape and acid attacks should be condemned strongly and the culprits should be hanged publicly but is it right the project your own country this way globally. We have won an Oscar and Emmys but lost a lot more in the process.
Why Pakistan only win Emmy or Oscar on documentarits that give bad name to the country? Perhaps, that's the only way we can win these awards.
Well done ladies !!!!
Congratulations!
congratz to filmmaker for outstanding achievement....and i hope in future we would be able to see enlightened n moderate face of pakistan in films which are internationally recognized..thanks n congratz once again to habiba n co-workers :)