Smile Pinki is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Megan Mylan[1][2] which won the 81st Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). The film depicts the story of Pinki and Ghutaru, two children in rural India who receive corrective surgery for cleft lips.

Smile Pinki
Directed byMegan Mylan
Produced byMegan Mylan
CinematographyNick Doob
Jon Shenk
Edited byPurcell Carson
Music byR. Prasanna
Production
company
Principe Productions
Distributed bySmile Train
HBO (TV)
Release date
  • 2008 (2008)
Running time
39 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageBhojpuri/Hindi

Overview

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Pinki had a unilateral complete cleft lip.

Pinki Sonkar is a five-year-old girl who is living with a severe cleft lip in one of the poorest areas of India. Not allowed to attend school at her native Rampur Dhabahi village in Mirzapur, near Varanasi,[3] and ostracised because of her deformity, Pinki lives a life of quiet desperation. By chance, Pinki's parents meet Pankaj, a social worker who is traveling village to village, gathering patients for a hospital that provides free cleft lip surgery to thousands of poor children each year through The Smile Train program.

The successful surgery was performed at G.S. Memorial Hospital, by plastic surgeon Dr. Subodh Kumar Singh, who along with Pinki attended the 81st Academy Awards ceremony.[4][5][6] In India the film generated national attention with a theatrical, media and community screening campaign to build public health awareness and support for clefts. The film was broadcast on HBO,[7] Sundance Channel and Doordarshan and 8 million free DVDs were distributed. Pinki was invited to toss the coin for the men's singles final at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, London.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Megan Mylan--'Smile Pinki' documentary.org
  2. ^ Wall Street Journal Good News From the Real World.
  3. ^ Pinki leaves for Oscar ceremony The Times of India, 17 February 2009.
  4. ^ New York Times Carpetbagger in LA Pinki.
  5. ^ Smile Pinki wins best short Oscar BBC News.
  6. ^ An Oscar completes Pinki's smile Rediff.com.
  7. ^ Huffington Post "Smile Pinki on HBO
  8. ^ "Proud moment for Pinki Sonkar". The Hindu. 2013-07-08. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
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