On July 10, 2012, Bol (“Speak Up”) swept the 2012 Lux Style Awards in Karachi, Pakistan, winning an award in every film category.
The Lux Style Awards, comparable to the Oscars in the United States, are the most prominent film, television and fashion awards in Pakistan.
The awards did not come as a surprise as Bol has already set earnings records in Pakistan.
The groundbreaking film has spurred national and international discourse about gender equity, family planning and maternal health. While the film is aimed specifically at opinion leaders and policymakers, it has received critical and widespread acclaim in over a dozen countries across three continents.
Bol also won three awards at the 2011 London Asian Film Festival, including Best Film, Best Actress, and Best New Talent of 2011.
Bol was co-produced by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU∙CCP) under the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns (PAIMAN), a six-year project funded by USAID and designed to reduce Pakistan’s maternal and neonatal mortality and improve child health.