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.

She has been lauded as Pakistan's first female Oscar winner by the press and government [1] [2]. Eventually Bill Abrams the president of New York Times Television gave her her big break. The Pakistani President conferred the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on Obaid-Chinoy on 23 March 2012 for bringing honor to Pakistan as a filmmaker.

She is also the first non-American to win the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. She won an Academy Award for her documentary Saving Face in 2012. com’s list of the 50 Coolest Desis of 2009.