Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s documentary, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness has won the best International Television Award at the 49th Annual Robert F Kennedy Journalism Awards.
The documentary tells the tale of a young Pakistani woman who survived attempted honour killing by her own family. Last year, Chinoy won an Oscar and Alfred I duPont-Columbia University Award for the film.
“Speaking the truth is never easy especially given the world we live in today where journalists are routinely harassed and forced into silence,” Sharmeen said in a statement on Sunday.
“I am honoured to receive this award and hope to continue telling important stories that affect all of us… in the hope that one day we will leave a more humane world for the next generation.”
The statement also claimed Sharmeen to be the first Pakistani to win the International Television category award.
The award will be presented at a ceremony hosted by Book Chair Michael Beschloss on May 23 at the Newseum in Washington DC, United States.
The Robert F Kennedy Journalism Awards were initiated in December 1968 by a group of journalists. The official website for the awards said, “the twelve award categories honour exceptional works of journalism and social critique in many forms including documentary film, photography, radio, and cartoons.”
Winning topics for this year included poverty, the war in Syria, the Flint water crisis, immigration, criminal justice and indigenous populations.