A Girl in the River: Der Preis der Vergebung

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won an Oscar for her documentary "Saving Face", about victims of acid attacks. Her documentary "A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness" looks at so-called honor killings (the murder of a family member who is perceived to have brought shame upon the family). In this case, a girl hooked up with a man of whom her family disapproved, so they tried to kill her but she survived and filed charges against her attackers. The question then becomes whether or not she can forgive her attackers.

I don't know how long honor killings have been going on. I suspect that every fundamentalist from every religion would do this sort of thing if given the chance. Whatever the case, it's an outstanding documentary drawing attention to a too often ignored problem. It deserved its Oscar win, and I hope that Obaid-Chinoy continues making these sorts of documentaries.

"A Girl In the River: The Price of Forgiveness" (2015 release; 40 min.) is a short documentary about Saba, a 19 yr. old lady from Gujranwala, Pakistan. As the documentary opens, Saba is on an operating table and attended to by a doctor. The doctor shares some graphic/stomach-turning pictures as to Saba's original wounds to her face. It's not long before we learn that she was shot by her father and uncle, who actually tried to kill her for something Saba did that (allegedly) dishonors her family. What did Saba do? What will become of her father and uncle? To tell you more of the facts would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is another documentary by acclaimed director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. She previously won an Oscar for Best Short Documentary for 2012's "Saving Face", a feat she would eventually repeat with this film. She is known for her activism to showcase the inequality of women in Pakistani society. Here she tackles a particular egregious topic: the so-called 'honor-killings' (of which more than 1,000 take place each year, we are reminded at the beginning of the movie). We get to know Saba, as well as her immediate family and the family of her husband, all of which speak on record and fully convinced that their personal opinion is the one and only correct (if not righteous) one. The suffocating "mores" of Pakistani society (never mind what the law actually says) is hard for anyone in the US to fully grasp and understand. But it makes for a jaw-dropping viewing experience. If I have one criticism of this documentary, it is that there is so much material to cover, that the documentary frankly feels rushed at a running time of just 40 min. I don't think it would've been all that hard to stretch this out to a feature-length documentary.

I recently stumbled onto this film while browsing the documentary section of HBO on Demand. So glad I found this. No, this does not make for "fun" viewing but it is all the more ESSENTIAL viewing. last and certainly not least, major kudos to Saba for her bravery to speak out. "A Girl in the River" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

We follow a lovely, and at the same time incredible tough, 18 year old girl (Saba) who survives a murder attempt carried out by her father and uncle.

Her crime is to have fallen in love with the boy that her family wanted as her husband. A new decision about marriage is taken but Saba follows her heart instead of her fathers rules and runs off and gets married.

This act of independence is so hideous and dangerous that the only thing that can restore the family's honor is to kill her. She survives and through interviews with her, the police, a lawyer and family we start to get a picture of how women are looked at in a society that are governed by feudal laws.

Especially the interview with her father and uncle in prison makes us understand that daughters should be considered being in eternal debt to their father who has worked so hard to sustain their lives. If she gets "meal three times a day" then she shouldn't ask for more.

Womens rights are so neglected that if an honor killing is committed and the killer afterward are forgiven by his nearest family - then he walks free. So if Saba forgives her father then he will walk free and so the suspense starts. Will she do this or not? I will not spoil the last part of the story for you but just recommend the movie for being more than politic correct.

When you see Saba together with her newly wedded husband you simply cannot understand that this marriage is looked upon as a crime.

The happy end is that the movie has gotten so much attention that a fund raising has gotten the couple enough money to buy their own land.

/Simon

Ps. When you read reviews that gives max score check to see if the user has made more than one review. If not consider the possibility of a lobbyist. If you agree consider putting this post scriptum at the bottom at your own reviews.

From my home in New Orleans I watched this documentary through teary eyes, anger, fear, helplessness, and hopeful that this woman's story will touch each and every person that watches it. Her bravery and will-to-live is very empowering. Eventhough I wished the laws in her country would've protected her more and others that will find themselves in this particular situation. She is still a hero in my eyes. I pray for her protection and many blessings to Saba and her husband and to their bundle of joy.

A GIRL IN THE RIVER THE PRICE OF FORGIVENESS

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy born in November 12, 1978) is a Canadian-Pakistani journalist, filmmaker and polbornitical activist known for her work in films that highlight gender inequality against women. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won the Oscar for Short Documentary in 2012 for Saving Face. She's nominated again this year for A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness. Both films tell the stories of Pakistani women mutilated or killed by radical moralists, and highlight the people around them fighting for societal progress.

It's a cliché to say that cinema has the power to change the world, but the reason it's become such a well-worn phrase is because films like Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness exist to make it happen and influence lawmakers at the highest level.

The filmmaker won her second Academy Award in the 'Best Documentary Short' category for the 40 Minute profile piece that premiered on HBO, and it ended up instigating similar change to her first winner, Saving Face, a haunting story centred on acid attacks made against women in Pakistan.

A Girl in the River follows Saba, a Year-old who survives an honour killing attempt made by her father and uncle after she defied their express wishes to elope with her husband. She was shot in the head, placed in a sack, and then dumped in the river, but miraculously managed to escape her near-fatal predicament and make her way to a local hospital, beginning a fight for justice that faced an uphill struggle to alter the traditional way of thinking in local society.

As Obaid-Chinoy explained to the International Documentary Association, her second Oscar-winning documentary reached all the way to the corridors of power, with the Pakistani prime minister vowing to make changes to the nation's existing legislation as it pertained to honour killings, driven largely by the impact of A Girl in the River.

Review written by artist jayakumar jrain.