Sabiha Sumar (born 29 September 1961) is a Pakistani filmmaker and producer. She is best known for her independent documentary films. Her first feature-length film was Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters), released in 2003. She is known for exploring themes of gender, religion, patriarchy and fundamentalism in Pakistan.
She, along with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Samar Minallah, are some of the Pakistani women independent documentary filmmakers to have screened their work outside of Pakistan.
Early life
Sumar was born in Karachi in 1961. Her parents were originally from Bombay (now Mumbai) and moved to Karachi during partition. When Sumar was growing up, her parents hosted many social gatherings that included Sufi poetry, music and liquor.
Sumar studied Persian Literature at the University of Karachi, The latter is a theme she explores in her other work as well, namely For a Place Under the Heavens. Sumar continues in the tradition of Partition cinema, among the likes of Deepa Mehta, Kamal Hasan, and Chadraprakash Dwivdei.
!Festival/Ceremony
!Award
!Work
!Result
|-
|1988
|San Francisco Film Festival
|Golden Gate Award
|Who Will Cast the First Stone
|Won
|-
| rowspan="7" |2003
| rowspan="4" |Locarno International Film Festival
|Golden Leopard for Best Film
| rowspan="8" |Khamosh Pani
| rowspan="2" |Won
|-
|Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
|-
|Don Quixote Award
| rowspan="2" |Special mention
|-
|Youth Jury Award
|-
| rowspan="3" |Nantes Three Continents Festival
|Silver Montgolfiere
| rowspan="2" |Won
|-
|Audience Award
|-
|Golden Montgolfiere
|Nominated
|-
|
|Kerala International Film Festival
|Golden Crow Pheasant
|Nominated
|-
|2008
|Sundance Film Festival
|Grand Prize Jury
|Dinner With the President: A Nation's Journey
|Nominated
|-
|2016
|15th Lux Style Awards
|Best TV Director
|Khuda Dekh Raha Hai
|Nominated
|}
References
External links
- Profile at vidhifilms.com
- Women of Pakistan feature
- New York Times review of "Silent Waters"
- Video Interview of Sabiha Sumar