Ammar Shahbazi
Karachi: Academy award winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has teamed up with a multinational soft drink maker to produce and direct a series of six documentaries that will soon be aired across the country.
The series of documentaries, titled ‘Ho Yaqeen,’ will narrate the stories of people who have selflessly served their communities and have strived to bring about change. The first documentary of the series tells the story of Sabina Khatri, a 40-year-old who runs a school in the crime-infested locality of Lyari. It was premiered at a local hotel here of Friday.
Screened in a jam-packed auditorium, the film captures an ordinary day in the life of Sabina as she enters Lyari to teach the kindergarten children in the troubled, low-income neighbourhood. “The moment I enter Lyari, all my fears vanish,” said the teacher, who prepares the local children for admission into the high-profile secondary schools in the city.
Speaking at the premier, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy said that the documentaries narrate a number of astounding stories, all the way from Kashmir to Karachi. “The protagonists of these documentaries are ordinary citizens who have achieved extraordinary feats through a determined will and desire to change their country,” she continued, “I hope that their success and struggles will resonate and inspire audiences all over the country to follow their example.”
The 20-minute documentary on Khatri’s work highlights the holistic approach she takes in providing the children with the best possible environment amid the hassles of living in an area such as Lyari. — Saher Baloch
Sabina is shown regularly calling the students’ mothers and instructing them on parenting; she was also shown conducting meetings with the students’ fathers, who, Sabina said, were more effective parents because they were ‘decision makers’.
After the screening of the documentary, Sabina, who was visibly overwhelmed by the roaring applause, appeared on stage and thanked the people who supported her with the cause. However, Khatri pointed out that, while she was being applauded, the children of Lyari were in dire stress because of the operation.
“I think of these kids as my own children and, while we gather here, the people of Lyari are going through a horrible time which I cannot take out of my mind.”
The documentaries will be aired on various television channels from May 20th 2012.
