Haya Fatima Iqbal
Education
- M.A. in News & Documentary, Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, New York University, USA (2010-2012) – Fulbright Scholar and NYU Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GSAS) Scholar
- M.A. in Mass Communication (2nd position in graduating class), University of Karachi, Pakistan (2006-2009)
- B.A. (Honors) in Mass Communication (Gold Medal, 1st position in graduating class; Minors: International Relations and Sociology), University of Karachi, Pakistan
- International Summer Institute for Student Leaders, University of Vermont, USA (2007)
Biography
Haya Fatima Iqbal has been Associate Professor of Practice in Communication and Design at Habib University since Fall 2015. She is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has won an Academy Award and multiple Emmy Awards, and who continues to make internationally recognized films alongside her teaching.
She was Co-Producer of A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, an Academy and Emmy Award-winning HBO documentary that followed a young survivor of an attempted honor killing in Gujranwala and played a role in changing Pakistani legislation on honor killings; the film also won the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and was nominated for a Peabody. She was also Co-Producer of Armed With Faith (Emmy Award, Outstanding Politics & Government Documentary), and has directed, produced, or shot documentaries for HBO, BBC Arabic, VICE Media, and The Olympic Channel, including The Sky is Far and the Earth is a Tough Place (on climate disaster and mental health in Gilgit-Baltistan), Life at 50 Degrees (BBC Arabic, on extreme heat across four continents), Start Playing Anywhere (The Olympic Channel), Pakistan’s Forgotten Dead (VICE, winner of the One World Media Award for Best Short Film), and Dagh Dagh Ujala (This Stained Dawn), which premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest.
In recognition of her work, Iqbal received Pakistan’s national Development Leadership Award from the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (2023), presented by Minister Ahsan Iqbal, and has held fellowships including the Asia 21 Next Generation Fellowship (2023), GATHER Artivism Fellowship (2022-2023), Film Independent Global Media Makers Fellowship (2022), Climate Story South Asia Lab Fellowship (2022), and the Acumen Pakistan Fellowship (2018).
Selected Filmography & Awards
- Co-Producer, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness – Academy Award and Emmy Award winner
- Co-Producer, Armed With Faith – Emmy Award, Outstanding Politics & Government Documentary
- Director & Cinematographer, The Sky is Far and the Earth is a Tough Place – screened at Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, Divvy Film Festival, Mountain International Film Festival, Vasakh Documentary Film Festival; Honorable Mention, Earth Futures Festival
- Pakistan Producer, Life at 50 Degrees (BBC Arabic, 2021)
- Director & Producer, Start Playing Anywhere (The Olympic Channel’s By Her Rules series)
- Producer, Pakistan’s Forgotten Dead – One World Media Award, Best Short Film
- Cinematographer, Dagh Dagh Ujala (This Stained Dawn) – premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest
Explore More AHSS Faculty Profiles
A
Faculty Director, Center for South Asian Music (CSAM) and Assistant Professor of Practice
BA (Honors) Comparative Humanities
B
Faculty Director, Academic Centers and Library, and Lecturer
BA (Honors) Comparative Humanities
C
D
E
Program Director, Communication and Design and Assistant Professor
BA (Honors) Communication and Design
F
G
H
I
J
M
Assistant Director, and Lecturer, Institute of Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship & Leadership
BA (Honors) Communication and Design
Professor and Lady Fatima Endowed Chair in Women and Divinity
BA (Honors) Comparative Humanities
N
Associate Professor
BA (Honors) Communication and Design, BA (Honors) Comparative Humanities
P
R
S
Program Director, and Assistant Professor, Comparative Humanities
BA (Honors) Comparative Humanities