Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy participant in World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017
Obaid-Chinoy's commercial venture "Sulagta Sitara" is a documentary series which was released on ARY Digital in 2016. The series share the stories of cities in Pakistan which have experienced hardship, but still manage to shine bright through the darkness. In January 2017, she was invited to speak at the 47th World Economic Forum, and became the first ever artist to co-chair the WEF's annual meeting. This took place between 17–20 January 2017, under the theme "Responsive and Responsible Leadership". The meeting convened more than 2,500 participants from nearly 100 countries to take part in over 300 sessions. On being the first artist and Pakistani to co-chair the annual meeting Obaid-Chinoy said: "It is a great honour to be the first artist ever to be given the opportunity to co-chair the prestigious World Economic Forum at Davos in 2017. I have always believed that the true mark of any thriving society is the amount of investment made in its cultural and artistic infrastructure. There is, now, an increasing recognition of the fact that business and economics must go hand-in-hand with culture and arts for society to move forward and it is with great pride that I will be representing both the art community and my country, Pakistan!"From 1–9 July 2017 a new work by Obaid-Chinoy - HOME1947 - was inaugurated at the Manchester International Festival. The immersive installation centres on a series of short films featuring families in India and Pakistan, who were among more than 10 million people displaced by Partition. The films see 'home' through the eyes of migrants who left their homes and never returned – 'home' as a physical place, but also as a concept, an ideal, a shared tradition. The exhibition then travelled to Mumbai in August, where it formed part of the Museum of Memories at Godrej India Culture Lab. The Pakistan premiere of Home 1947 took place in October 2017 at the Heritage Now festival in Lahore, before transferring, most recently, to Karachi in December 2017 where the exhibition managed to attract over 16,000 visitors.Obaid-Chinoy's series of documentary films, Look But With Love, released on the Within app in October 2017, is Pakistan's first virtual reality documentary series focusing on the people of Pakistan who are striving to change the socio-political landscape of their communities through causes they are passionate about.In November 2017, Obaid-Chinoy was awarded the 2017 Knight International Journalism Award, by the International Center for Journalists [ICFJ] in Washington, DC. The award recognises Chinoy's efforts to chronicle the human toll of extremism that have made a major impact. "At great personal risk, Obaid-Chinoy and al Masri faced terrorism head on, getting behind the scenes to chronicle untold abuses", said ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan. The Knight International Journalism Award by the ICFJ recognises media professionals who demonstrate a passionate commitment to excellent reporting that makes a difference in the lives of people around the world. For 2017, the recipients include Chinoy, whose work and efforts in highlighting the loophole on the practice of honour killing in Pakistan led to a legislative change in Pakistan.In 2018, the Aagahi series was launched which educates women about the rights and how to navigate the police and judicial system. Aagahi has won wide acclaim with women sharing the videos and commenting on their usefulness.In 2018, Obaid-Chinoy spoke at TED in Vancouver about the impact of mobile cinema which has been traveling across Pakistan screening films for small towns and communities in all provinces. Inculcating critical thinking and offering a wider world view to children and empowering women.In June 2018, it was announced that the HBO Sports documentary Student Athlete, revealing the hardships endured by NCAA athletes who generate billions for their institutions, would be debuting on 2 October 2018 on the HBO network. Produced by LeBron James, Maverick Carter's SpringHill Entertainment and Steve Stoute's United Masters, the feature-length presentation is directed by Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton.In September 2019, Obaid-Chinoy unveiled her new animated film, titled Sitara: Let Girls Dream, in theaters in New York. The movie follows the story of Pari, a 14-year-old girl with dreams of becoming a pilot, while growing up in a society that does not allow her to dream. It is produced under the banner of Obaid-Chinoy's animation company, Waadi Animations entirely in Pakistan, in association with Vice Studios and Gucci's Chime For Change. The music for the film has been composed by Emmy Award-Winning composer Laura Karpman. Recorded and mixed at the world's most famous and iconic studio, Abbey Road Studios, Karpman's score has been paramount in bringing the film's story and characters to life.Most recently her animated mini-series Stories for children about inspiring figures in Pakistan looks at local heroes' relationships with their parents. Obaid-Chinoy is the honorary consul general for Norway in Karachi, Pakistan.In September 2020, it was announced that Obaid-Chinoy would be co-directing the Ms. Marvel series with Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah and Meera Menon for Disney+ to bring Marvel Studios’ first Muslim hero to the big screen. The opportunity made her the first Pakistani director to be involved with Marvel.In October 2022, it was reported that Obaid-Chinoy would be directing an untitled film set in the Star Wars universe, written by Steven Knight, from a previous draft by Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson. In April 2023, Disney officially announced during Star Wars Celebration that Obaid-Chinoy would direct the film, whose story is set 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, and with Daisy Ridley back as Rey.
engaged in involved in took part in played a role in contributed to