Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a two-time Academy Award winner, was recently honoured by The People’s Portfolio, a British human rights organisation, for “inspiring leadership, [and] displaying] remarkable courage and compassion for fellow human beings” through her documentaries, according to a news release.
Platon, a well-known British portrait and documentary photographer, started the organisation. It strives to establish a visual language that breaks down barriers, promotes dignity, combats discrimination, and mobilises people around the world to support human rights.
The renowned photographer recently chatted with the Oscar-winning filmmaker about women who are fighting to make their way in the world and what message she would give them. When asked what she has to offer a young girl who believes that her peers do not appreciate her as a human being as highly as a guy her age, she says: “I tell her that life is going to be really difficult, that you will have to battle for a place at the dinner table, to even receive a piece of bread,” Obaid-Chinoy said.
“You will have to fight to get an education, you will have to fight to be allowed to leave your house and find a job, you will have to fight once you are at your workplace to get fair wages, you will have to fight to get promoted, you will have to fight with your husband when he wants more of your time and wants you to quit your job, you will have to fight for your children,” she added.
“My advice to every young woman attempting to realise her aspirations, fighting through a patriarchal system, or just trying to exist today: Be free, choose freedom,” she continued.
