Sabiha Sumar

Pakistani filmmaker Sabiha Sumar cites the literary character of Scheherazade, who melted the heart of a brutal king through the sheer force of her storytelling, as one of her inspirations. Her company Vidhi Films is committed to creating media that promotes pluralism and secular democracy, and is behind her successful feature Silent Waters and documentaries like Dinner with the President and Who Will Cast the First Stone. "The audience is always my own people first," says Sumar, who uses a mobile projection unit to reach Pakistan's rural population. "But I want to be able to make films in such a way that everybody should be able to connect with them and understand them." Born in Karachi, she studied political science and film at Sarah Lawrence College and read history and political thought at Cambridge.

Selected Filmography

Dinner with the President: A Nation's Journey (2007)
Sundance Film Festival — Grand Jury Prize

On the Roofs of Delhi (2007)

Silent Waters (2003)
Locarno International Film Festival — Golden Leopard Award, Don Quixote Award

Don't Ask Why (1999)

Who Will Cast the First Stone? (1998)
San Francisco International Film Festival — Golden Gate Award

Suicide Warriors (1996)

Of Mothers, Mice and Saints (1994)

Where Peacocks Dance (1992)