By Taniya Faheem Rogatia
KARACHI: Two-time Academy and three-time Emmy Award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy hosted the premiere of her latest animation short film, SITARA: LET GIRLS DREAM at Nueplex Cinemas in Karachi on 9th March 2020. 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 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.
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, JerjeesSeja, ImkeFehrmann and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy as the producers.
SITARA can be viewed on Netflix at: https://www.netflix.com/pk/title/81160765
The trailer for SITARA: LET GIRLS DREAM can be viewed here:https://youtu.be/EztDSGZb2xY
Behind The Scenes for SITARA on Netflix can be viewed here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g5jxEGQKpo
