Pakistan PM lauds Saving Facing filmmaker for Oscar win

ISLAMABAD // Pakistan's prime minister has lauded Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy for becoming the first filmmaker from the country to win an Oscar.

She received the award yesterday for a documentary about female acid attack victims in Pakistan. She dedicated the prize to women in the country working for change.

The documentary Saving Face chronicles a British plastic surgeon who treated acid victims. It was co-directed by Daniel Junge.

Yusuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistan prime minister, said the government would grant Ms Chinoy a civil award.

Mistreatment of women is widespread in Pakistan, a conservative Muslim country where many people are poor and lack basic education.

The media frequently reports acid attacks by husbands angry at their wives or young men spurned by women.