Sabiha Sumar facts for kids

Sabiha Sumar, born on September 29, 1961, is a talented filmmaker and producer from Pakistan. She is famous for making independent documentary films. Her first big movie, Khamosh Pani (which means 'Silent Waters'), came out in 2003. Sabiha Sumar often explores important topics in her films. She looks at how gender, religion, and strong traditional beliefs affect people in Pakistan.

She is one of the few Pakistani women filmmakers, like Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Samar Minallah, whose independent documentaries have been shown all over the world.

Early Life and Education

Sabiha Sumar was born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1961. Her parents moved to Karachi from Mumbai (then called Bombay) during the Partition of India in 1947. When she was a child, her parents often had social gatherings at their home. These gatherings included Sufi poetry and music.

Sabiha went to Karachi Grammar School. Later, she studied Persian Literature at the University of Karachi. She then went to Sarah Lawrence College in New York from 1980 to 1983. There, she studied Filmmaking and Political Science. She also earned a post-graduate degree in International Relations from Cambridge University in England.

Filmmaking Career

Sabiha Sumar is well-known for her independent films. These films often discuss important political and social issues. She focuses on how strong religious beliefs affect society, especially women. Sumar is very interested in showing the role of Pakistani women in the world. She explores how different parts of society have influenced them over many years.

Her first documentary film was called Who Will Cast the First Stone. This film looked at the lives of three women in prison in Pakistan. It won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1998. In 1992, Sumar started her own film company, Vidhi Films.

Notable Documentaries

Some of her other documentary films include:

• Don't Ask Why (1999)
• For a Place Under the Heavens (2003)
• On the Roofs of Delhi (2007)
• Dinner with the President: A Nation's Journey (2007)

For a Place Under the Heavens explored themes of religion, history, and gender. It started an important discussion about women wearing the hijab in Muslim countries. Sabiha Sumar also produced the Oscar-winning documentary film Saving Face.

Her films are shown at film festivals and universities around the world. They are also used by women's and human rights organizations. However, her films are not often shown in Pakistan because of their sensitive topics.

Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters)

Sabiha Sumar's first feature film is Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters). It was released in 2003. This fictional movie explores religion, gender, and the difficult experiences people faced after the Partition of India. It shows the pain of Partition from a woman's point of view.

Sumar connects the violence after Partition to the changes made by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1979. These changes involved making Pakistan more Islamic. She explores this topic in other films too, like For a Place Under the Heavens.

Khamosh Pani was originally planned as a documentary. But Sumar decided to make it a fictional story. She did not want to make real people relive their painful memories. The film suggests that sometimes silence is needed for healing from trauma.

The movie won fourteen international awards. It received the Best Screenplay award at the third Kara Film Festival in 2003. Sumar also won the Golden Leopard for Best Film at the Locarno International Film Festival. She also received the Audience Award at the Nantes Three Continents Festival.

It was hard for Sumar to find places to show Khamosh Pani in Pakistan. This was because of the film's controversial themes. So, Sumar organized forty-one free screenings of the film across Pakistan.

Good Morning Karachi

In 2013, her latest feature film Good Morning Karachi was released.

Personal Life

Sabiha Sumar has one daughter named Dhiya. Dhiya appeared with her mother in the film For a Place Under the Heavens. Sumar also started the Centre for Social Science Research in Karachi.

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Sabiha Sumar para niños