Sabiha Sumar (born 29 September 1961) is a Pakistani filmmaker and producer. She is best known for her independent documentary films. Her first feature-length film was Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters), released in 2003. She is known for exploring themes of gender, religion, patriarchy and fundamentalism in Pakistan. She, along with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Samar Minallah, are some of the Pakistani women independent documentary filmmakers to have screened their work outside of Pakistan. Early life Sumar was born in Karachi in 1961. Her parents were originally from Bombay (now Mumbai) and moved to Karachi during partition. When Sumar was growing up, her parents hosted many social gatherings that included Sufi poetry, music and liquor. She attended Karachi Grammar School. Sumar studied Persian Literature at the University of Karachi, followed by Filmmaking and Political Science at Sarah Lawrence College in New York from 1980–83. She completed her post-graduate degree from Cambridge University, England in International Relations. Career Sabiha Sumar has earned acclaim for her independent films, which deal with political and social issues such as the effects of religious fundamentalism on society, and especially on women. Sumar's main interest has been on addressing primarily Pakistani women's place in the world and how different aspects of society have affected them over the past several decades. Sumar's first documentary, Who Will Cast the First Stone, deals with the state of three women in prison in Pakistan under the Hudood Ordinances. It won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival in 1998. The film led to the quashing of death-by-stoning sentence for Shahida Parveen, who was accused of adultery. In 1992 Sumar founded Vidhi Films. Her documentary films include Don't Ask Why (1999), For a Place Under the Heavens (2003), On the roofs of Delhi (2007), and Dinner with the President: A Nation's Journey (2007). Her film, Suicide Warriors, is about women in the Tamil Liberation Army. For a Place Under the Heavens addressed issues of religion, history and phallocentrism and gender. For a Place Under the Heavens kicked off a critical debate on women wearing the hijab in the Muslim World. In 2013, her latest feature film Good Morning Karachi was released. Her films have circulated internationally through film festivals, American universities, women’s organizations and human rights organizations. Sumar’s films have not been widely screened in Pakistan due to its content. Don’t Ask Why aired on a German-French channel. Sumar produced