May the Force Be with Her

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will be the first woman and first person of color to direct a Star Wars film.

Lucasfilm announced in April that journalist and documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will direct one of the three upcoming Star Wars movies.

This installment will be set 15 years after the last events of the 2019 film, The Rise of Skywalker. It will “tell the story of rebuilding the New Jedi Order and the powers that rise to tear it down,” according to a press release. British actor Daisy Ridley will reprise her role as Rey in the lead role of Obaid-Chinoy’s film. After the announcement, ObaidChinoy reflected on Instagram, saying, “I have always been attracted to the hero’s journey—and the world definitely needs more heroes! The blueprints of the heroes we see on screen are rooted in reality. I’ve spent my life meeting real life heroes, who have overcome the most oppressive empires and battled impossible odds. And that to me is the heart of Star Wars.”

Obaid-Chinoy is an award-winning director (two Oscars and seven Emmys) who has used film as a medium to bring attention to atrocities, including honor killings of women in Pakistan. She codirected Ms. Marvel, a Disney+ miniseries about a Pakistani teenager and Avengers fan who develops superpowers of her own.