LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is revelling in her Oscar win, but it’s the prospect of real change in Pakistan that has her beaming.

The 37-year-old claimed an Academy Award on Sunday for her short documentary on honour killings in Pakistan, “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.”

The film examines the case of an 18-year-old girl who survived a brutal attack by her father and uncle who disapproved of her husband.

Obaid-Chinoy says she’s heartened by reports that two people in Pakistan were sentenced Monday morning for an honour killing, an indication there might be a crackdown on the brutal tradition.

“For me, the biggest win is the fact that the issue I’m trying to highlight has gotten such a tremendous response, and it will continue to,” Obaid-Chinoy said Monday morning from Los Angeles.

“This morning in Pakistan they sentenced two people … for an honour killing, so it’s already having some sort of reverberations. What more can a filmmaker ask for?”

Obaid-Chinoy says she celebrated her Oscar win at an after-party alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck, and chatted with “Mad Max” star Charlize Theron and Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.

But she’s also drawn attention from world leaders, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeting his congratulations Monday and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif declaring in a statement that “there is no place for killing in the name of honour in Islam.”

He said his government is in the process of developing legislation to stop the practice.

“Women like Ms. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy are not only a pride for the Pakistani nation but are also a significant source of contribution toward the march of civilization the world over,” Sharif said.

Rights groups estimate that about 1,000 Pakistani women are killed every year for “bringing shame” to their families.

The killers are rarely prosecuted, because Pakistani law allows suspects to avoid punishment if they are forgiven by the family of their victims, a provision based in Islamic law.

“A Girl in the River” is the latest in a series of socially charged investigative films from Obaid-Chinoy’s Karachi-based film company SOC Film.

She also won an Oscar in 2012 for the documentary short “Saving Face,” about acid attacks.

Obaid-Chinoy, a dual citizen who lived in Toronto from 2004 to 2015 and now lives in Pakistan, says Canada has had a big influence on her work.

“I have always admired Canada’s longstanding human rights and recently how Canada has handled bringing in the refugees and the resettlement process,” she says.

“There’s a lot that one can learn from Canada and the best thing about Canada for me is the diversity. The fact that you can be anyone and come from anywhere and yet be Canadian and be part of the Canadian mix.”

She says having two Oscars under her belt should allow her to continue making socially charged films.

“It just means that I’m able to tell the stories that I want to tell,” she says.

“Because access to funding is easier, because the films that I put out there have a broader audience and my voice is amplified a lot more.”

This was the sole Canadian win among a broad swath of homegrown nominees, including two contenders in the best picture race: the Canada-Ireland co-production “Room” and the Canada-U.K.-Ireland co-production “Brooklyn.”

Those films lost to “Spotlight,” a muck-raking drama about sex abuse in the Catholic Church which emerged victorious over leading nominee “The Revenant.”

Other Canadian hopefuls who went home empty-handed included actress Rachel McAdams for her supporting role in “Spotlight,” writer Emma Donoghue who was nominated for best adapted screenplay for “Room,” and chart-topper the Weeknd, who was up for best song for “Earned It” from “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” is set to air on HBO Canada on March 7.

— By Cassandra Szklarski in Toronto. With files from The Associated Press.