When I'm not working on the ground, spending time with my husband and daughter puts me at ease.

All the women in Pakistan working for change, don't give up on your dreams, this is for you.

I grew up listening to my grandfather's stories of our musical past. He would often talk about the orchestras that played at concerts and the musicians who played on Sunday evenings on street corners. By the time I grew up in the '80s, all of this was a thing of the past. I lived vicariously through his stories and often wondered what it would have felt like to have been part of his generation.

But the biggest challenge overall was narrowing down the complex narrative elements into a clean and straightforward story while maintaining a sense of the cultural context that makes the film special.

My topics are timely. When an event is happening is when I want to be there... I think it is our duty to challenge the status quo.

Where I grew up in Pakistan, it's really the luck of the draw. My mother got married when she was 17. She never went to college but she wanted each and every one of us to go to college and then work. She was relentless about it. And i think that part of who i am is shaped by her strength. If [girls] families support them, they can achieve their dreams

It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from - if you put quality work out there, it will be appreciated.