NEW YORK—A Girl in the River: The Price
of Forgiveness, winner of
this year’s Academy Award® for Best Documentary, Short Subject, recently made its world premiere on
HBO. Directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (who also won an Oscar® in 2012 for Saving Face) and edited by Geof Bartz, A.C.E., the 40-minute film went through
editorial conforming, final color grading and preparation for broadcast at
Technicolor PostWorks New York.

A
Girl in the River examines
the tensions between modernism and tradition in Pakistan through the story of
an 18-year-old woman who survived an attempted honor killing. Saba was shot in
the head and thrown into a river to die by her father and uncle after she fell
in love and married without her family’s permission. The story of Saba’s
survival and its complicated aftermath is told through interviews with her, the
police officer and doctor who saved her life, and others, including her father.

Editorial conforming and final color grading
was performed at Technicolor PostWorks by Senior Finishing Editor and Colorist
Eric Ramistella working under the direction of Obaid-Chinoy and Bartz.

Bartz notes that the film does not have the
look of a traditional documentary. “The film looks exotic and romantic,” he
explains. “It’s a Romeo and Juliet story.
 Some of the villages can appear dreary,
but the clothes worn by the women are colorful and beautiful. The landscapes
surrounding the villages and cities are spectacular. We were able to make it look
great.”

Ramistella conformed the film on an Avid
Symphony and used FilmLight’s Baselight for Avid plugin to perform color
adjustments. He worked with original camera elements, using LUTs supplied by Bartz
and cinematographer Asad Fauqi as guides.

“We worked from the flat footage and built it
up from there,” Ramistella recalls. “I did a first color pass in the Avid and
then pulled it into the Baselight plugin for fine adjustments. That allowed me
to give more attention to faces and other fine points.”

Ramistella’s task was to establish
consistency between elements shot with different cameras over a period of
months. Many scenes were shot at night and required finessing to bring out the
details and create the right mood. “There was one long night scene where Saba
was riding in a tuk tuk,” Ramistella
recalls. “It was a big challenge to create the right balance so that we could
see her and the city passing by outside.”

“The footage was so malleable; it was
amazing,” adds Bartz. “Eric transformed it as far as I’m concerned. He brought
a nice, even, unobtrusive feel to all of the shots.”

Bartz says that the success that the film has
enjoyed has been very gratifying, and he welcomes the attention it is bringing
to a problem that affects thousands of young women.  “This film raises a fundamental question of
freedom for women,” he says.

The film has had an impact. After
Obaid-Chinoy received her Oscar, she met with the prime minister of Pakistan
who vowed to plug loopholes in local law. If passed, a new bill will make honor
killings a crime against the state.

 About
Technicolor PostWorks New York

Technicolor
PostWorks New York is the East Coast’s most comprehensive digital motion picture
and post-production facility, employing an exceptional team of creative
artists, engineers and project managers to serve our clients through the film
and TV finishing process.

Technicolor
PostWorks New York offers one complete source for every post requirement,
including in-context digital dailies, film imaging and restoration, collaborative
non-linear editorial and HD/UHD broadcast finishing, 4K digital cinema, global
content lifecycle support, and comprehensive film and TV sound services on nine
mix stages.

For
more information, visit http://www.technicolorpwny.com