At WEF, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy stresses on inspiring social change through storytelling

Journalist and filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy said she believes in creating social change as she discussed her life’s work, elaborating that forging human connection through film leaves a lasting impact on viewers and the people she works with. Her remarks came during a dialogue with fellow Crystal Award recipients Nile Rodgers and Jin Xing on Thursday at the World Economic Forum (WEF) that concludes in Davos, Switzerland today.

In a session titled, ‘Art with a Mission’, Obaid-Chinoy reflected that when she tells a story, she aims to find a common thread that binds everyone, and that the medium of film chose her.

“I hope that I can open up people’s eyes because we are all born equal. We all go six feet under the ground, and the time that we spend here, we must realise that we have to amplify each other and work off each other,” Obaid-Chinoy shared.

The two-time Academy Award winner said that being a filmmaker is about relinquishing control and a key step in building a vulnerable relationship between the storyteller and the person whose story is being told.

“Throughout my career, whether I’ve been in war-zones or I’ve been in a quiet situation, I have known that the key has gone in, click, and the lock has opened.

“I know that moment when that happens because I can see through the journey of that film, when that person is willing to relinquish control.”

Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has also been in attendance at the WEF, and spoke about Pakistan’s fiscal and economic dilemmas during sessions and on the sidelines with fellow world leaders.

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Obaid-Chinoy is a recipient of the Crystal Award that recognises artists and leaders who have had a significant global impact through their advocacy.

She was also in attendance last year, where she talked about women “taking charge” in a session along with designer Diane von Furstenberg.

During her session this year, she added how in creating films, she makes a deliberate effort to bond with the people whose stories she tells, away from cameras, to ensure they feel safe with her.

“I say that filmmakers can get people to say things that people have never admitted, even to themselves. It’s almost as if they are confessing to themselves about their lives and what they have gone through. You open up the inner sanctum of someone.”

The artist added that she sees storytelling as an avenue for change, and it is not the conclusion. It is people across the world who “rally and make it special.”

“I don’t see myself as just creating films. I see myself as telling stories that will create a path. So, every film that I’ve ever done has an impact campaign associated with it,” Obaid-Chinoy said.

“The people who I have made films about as a filmmaker, I can never promise them anything. I can only promise them that in giving their testimony and bearing witness and in making sure that I can keep their secrets, they will find their path.”

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Obaid-Chinoy ended her talk with a recent anecdote of an email she received just months ago containing a photograph of a dairy company in Canada. She recognized this was an individual she had filmed in 2008 in ‘Damascus on a wheelchair’.

“[He was] an Iraqi refugee who had come to protest the fact that the Iraqis were not getting asylum at a fast enough space. Because he was in that film, he used that to petition UNHCR to get him asylum.There is a photograph of him with a dairy company with his name on it and his three grown up sons.

“And in it, he’s written, ‘Dear Sharmeen, this is because of you,’” she said.