MUMBAI: Pakistani documentary film Saving Face beat opponents like The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, God is the bigger Elvis, Incident in New Baghdad and The Tsunami and The Cherry Blossom to bag the Oscar award for best documentary (short) at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony.

Directed by Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel Junge, Saving Face- the 40-minute short chronicles the journeys of survivors of acid violence in Pakistan and the reconstructive surgery of their faces done free of cost by UK-based plastic surgeon, Mohammad Jawad who is regularly in Pakistan for the same.
 
The documentary was filmed in Pakistan’s Saraiki, an area struggling with unemployment coupled with a dismal literacy rate.

In the best documentary (feature) category, the Oscar went to Undefeated directed by TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas.