During the night of the Oscar’s, an award was given for a film not too familiar to the general public.  Pakistan’s “Saving Face”, a 40-minute documentary focuses on the senseless acid attacks against women in Pakistan, was this year’s winner for Best Documentary Short.

After the film’s victory at the Oscars, a first for Pakistan, co-director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, 33, gave a stirring speech in which she dedicated the film to “all the women in Pakistan who are working for change.”, and adding, “Don’t give up on your dreams.”

Obaid-Chinoy is Pakistani, and was born in Karachi to Urdu speaking parents.  She graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Government, and from Stanford University with a master’s in International Policy Studies in 2003, and a master’s in Communication in 2004.

Web interest in the film immediately jumped after the Oscar win. Yahoo! searches for the film surged an astounding 3,362%, demonstrating that people are clearly interested in learning about the history and reasoning behind these horrifying acid attacks.

“Saving Face” is set to air on March 8^th on HBO.

Lucia Micarelli in HBO's "Treme." Photo by Paul Schiraldi.

Treme is a hit HBO series set in New Orleans, currently in its second season, following the lives of struggling musicians, including Korean-Italian American Lucia Micarelli, a real-life concert violinist who plays Annie on the show. Here, more of our conversation with Micarelli.

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