In December 2011, I will be opening up my production house, Sharmeen Obaid Films, and aspire to change the way Pakistanis approach nonfiction storytelling. There are thousands of stories to be found here.

Education liberates a woman.

I'd like to do a film in Canada, but it's too difficult. National Film Board funding takes too long, and there's too much paperwork; by the time the film is approved the topic is dead and gone.

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.

My films are motivated by a keen interest in highlighting issues that affect marginalized populations who are caught in difficult circumstances.

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

I feel that for the first time in a long time, educated Pakistanis are returning to their country to start up educational projects, to start up businesses, so instead of the brain-drain that happened in the 1950s and 1960s, the country is growing and improving economically.