Beena Sarwar

Beena Sarwar is a journalist and documentary filmmaker based in Karachi, Pakistan and she is a Research Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, USA. She has a double major in Studio Art and English Literature from Brown University, USA (1986) and a Masters degree in Television Documentary (with Distinction) from Goldsmiths College , University of London (2001). She was a Nieman Fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Harvard University (2005-2006). Her work focuses on human rights, media, gender and peace issues and she had a weekly column called 'Personal Political', the title deriving from the feminist principle that the personal is political. She discontinued this column in September 2005, on starting the Nieman Fellowship.
- Her professional experience as a journalist includes: Editor OpEd & Features, The News (Jang Group of Newspapers), Karachi, Dec 04-Sept ‘05; Contributing Editor, The News, Karachi, Dec 2001-Nov 2004; Producer May 2002-Nov 2004, Geo Television News, Karachi (Pakistan’s first 24-hour news channel launched in August 2002) language Urdu; Editor (founding), The News on Sunday (weekly news-magazine of The News, Jang Group of Newspapers), Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad (launched 1994) July 1993-Dec 2000; Contributing Editor Pakistan Himal South Asian, Kathmandu-based monthly, March 1996-present . She was Principal Stringer Pakistan, Inter Press Service (IPS), Lahore 1992-1998; Features Editor, The Frontier Post, Lahore, June 1989-June 1993 and Assistant Editor, The Star Weekend Karachi, Aug 1987-Aug 1988. She started out as an interning Editorial Assistant, The Star Weekend, Karachi, Dec 1981-Aug 1982.
Her first documentary film was Naheed’s Story (20 min., Dir./Prod, Goldsmiths College University of London, May 2001) and the most recent was Mukhtiar Mai: The Struggle for Justice, 5 min & 10 min (Television Trust for Environment, London, August 2006). Her documentary films have been shown on Pakistani television as well as in several festivals, including the Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival (UK, 2001), Tasveer (Seattle, WA, 2005 & 2006), Film South Asia (Kathmandu, 2001 & 2003), PSBT International Film Festival on Gender and Sexuality, May 2007, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
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