Between 1975 and 1979, at least 250,000 Cambodian women were forced into marriages by the Khmer Rouge. Sochan was one of them. At the age of 16, she was forced to marry a soldier who raped her. After 30 years of silence, Sochan decided to bring her case to the international tribunal set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders.
You Have Struck A Rock! commemorates the special contribution of South African women to the success of the anti-apartheid struggle. It recovers the remarkable "women's campaigns" of the 1950s against the hated pass system. This massive, non-violent civil disobedience movement was only finally crushed by the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre and the banning of anti-apartheid organizations. Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Dora Tamana and other leaders recall this struggle and their imprisonment and banning. Yet they remain undaunted, demonstrating the South African proverb: "When you have touched a woman, you have struck a rock."
Sara writes a harsh blog about the bleak lives of Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) women. Shulamit is an independent photographer who documents violent incidents on segregated busses on which women are required to seat at the back. Both of them were banned by their communities because of their desire to live normal, unsuppressed lives. These young women operate entirely alone and pay a very high price for violating the number-one rule of Haredi society: "Never air a dirty laundry in public." As they expose the violence of Haredi fanatics, acting in the name of modesty, they are punished by persecution and vilification. What will happen to them when they can no longer bear being shunned by their own family and friends? Wich way will they choose? where will they go? Black Bus, Soreret, tells the story of their singlehanded and courageous attempts to document and lead a change in the Haredi Society from which they have fled.
After having fled Pol Pot, Rithy Panh, a 15 year old Cambodian finds refuge at the Mairut camp in Thailand, in 1979. Ten years later, now a filmmaker, he returns to the camps to film the daily life of this threatened people. The peoples he meets, eaten away by inactivity, insecutity and the fear of being forgotten, have been waiting for a possible return to Cambodia.
A dive, the midday sunlight filtering down through the water. The air in her lungs has to last until she can dislodge the abalone. Dives like these have been carried out in Japan for over 2000 years by the Ama-San.
On October 23, 1998, a sniper carrying a high-powered rifle assassinated Dr. Barnett Slepian in his home, altering forever a family, a community, and the bounds of our imaginings about anti-abortion violence. This horrific act punctuated a decade of escalating harassment and violence against women’s heath care providers – a decade marred by murders, assaults, death threats, stalking, clinic blockades, arsons, bombings, and chemical attacks. How do these events affect the personal and professional lives of abortion providers? What motivates them to continue their work in the face of such terrorism?
The representation of women in contemporary Italian media
For young Muslims who live in a free society, how is the culture of origin of the parents compatible with their own wishes? What significance does the commandment of virginity have?
In the West, we are often bombarded with dramatic and horrifying images of a violent and war-torn Iraq. This makes it easy to forget that people there do "regular" things... like play basketball. Salaam Dunk follows the American University of Iraq women's basketball team as they discover what it means to be students, athletes and friends. This is a story of triumph in the face of chaos and a testament to the perseverance of a handful of young Iraqi women. It shows us how sports can help build bridges of shared values, and potentially lead us toward a future of understanding within Iraq as well as abroad. Above all, Salaam Dunk is a film about basketball, friendship and the pain of losing those we love. From the joy of the team's first win to the pain of losing their coach forever, the film gives us an intimate glimpse into an Iraq we don't see on the news.
A groundbreaking documentary on the internationally renowned painter, designated by ARTnews Magazine one of the world's top-ten living artists. This documentary was shot over a period of four years, from 1998 through 2002, Agnes Martin's ninetieth year. Interviews with Martin are inter-cut with shots at work in her studio in Taos, New Mexico, with photographs and archival footage, and with images of her work from over five decades. It is a venue for Martin to speak about her work, her working methods, her life as an artist, and her views about the creative process. She also discusses her film, "Gabriel" and reads from her poetry and lectures. In keeping with Martin's chosen life of solitude, she alone appears in the documentary.
This documentary is one of the earliest film enquiries on women's condition in Italy, seen in its different aspects: social, economic, psychological. Starting from an analysis of the feminine role models proposed by the cultural industry, the film finds its protagonists among all kinds of women.
The film was originally conceived as a portrait of Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, the well-known Egyptian doctor, writer, and women’s rights activist. But the director was disappointed by the encounter with the woman who had been her great role model. Instead, she set out to discover what life means to Egyptian women by visiting her female relatives. Her mother, aunts, and neighbors talk about life as a married woman, about the traditional clitoridectomy of girls, about love and sexuality. The result is a very impressive and extremely personal film.
Sure, Elvis was the King, but who was the Queen? The Women Of Rockabilly – Welcome To The Club is a documentary search for the "Female Elvis", as we meet the women of rockabilly music and explore the "what-if’s?" and "what-now’s" of their careers. Brenda Lee, Wanda Jackson, Janis Martin and a sassy cast of lesser but no less colorful pretenders to the throne describe their trailblazing days when they were the embodiment of exuberance, sexuality and defiance in a world that wasn’t quite ready for them. A rockin’ feature documentary by Beth Harrington.
Six people, one room, one night, one game, a lot of sensuality and much to discover. A Film that shows how bodies and minds might meet when allowed to. Get involved within a stimulating experiment, somewhere between aesthetic statement and real venture, between pornographic art and the attempt to reposition sexuality within dialogue and actions.
They are four of the most successful businesswomen in China: Belonging to a generation who experienced the austerity of China's cultural revolution, followed by the subsequent economic boom, they have worked their way to the very top in a patriarchal society. Today, Yang Lan is the owner of one of the leading private media companies. Dong Mingzhu is a tenacious female CEO, heading up the world's largest manufacturer of air conditioning systems. Zhang Lan is a tycoon in the luxury restaurant business. Zhou Yi is a top manager working for a big american IT company. How were these careers built? What are the social and economic contexts in which they operate? And what do these women think about the political, social and cultural state of their country?
Houda al-Habash, a conservative Muslim preacher, founded a Qur'an school for girls in Damascus, Syria when she was just 17 years old. Every summer, her female students immerse themselves in a rigorous study of Islam, in addition to their secular schooling. A surprising cultural shift is underway-women are claiming space within the mosque, a place historically dominated by men. Challenging tradition, Houda insists education for women is a form of worship. Using Qur'anic teachings, she encourages her students to pursue higher education, jobs, and public lives, while remaining committed to an interpretation of Islam prioritizing women's role as wives and mothers. In a world rarely seen, The Light In Her Eyes tells the story of a leader who challenges the women of her community to live according to Islam, without giving up their dreams. Shot right before the uprising in Syria erupted, the film is an exclusive look at a social movement thriving in a country controlled by a repressive regime
Hotel Coolgardie is a portrait of outback Australia, as experienced by two backpackers who find themselves the latest batch of “fresh meat” to work as barmaids in a remote mining town.
Take a uniquely Latina view of life in the United States in this no-holds-barred 10th installment in the 'Habla' series. From a newspaper CEO-publisher to an Olympic boxing medalist, and many others, this special charts the joys of challenges faced by U.S. Latinas of all ages and backgrounds.
From behind the closed doors of women's washrooms, The Powder Room reveals women sharing intimacies in the privacy of each other's company. Originating from the director's observation that women trade secrets with friends and strangers in public washrooms, this innovative and candid documentary takes us to high school bathrooms, seniors centres' powder roooms, Newfoundland dance halls, New York nightclubs, a sauna in Copenhagen, a Casablanca hamman and country-and-western bars in Texas. In each location, as women are filmed in verité sequences, they confess their joys, their frustrations and their pain about love, sex, relationships with men and friendships with each other.
In the Espinhaço Mountains one winter, a group of small-town Brazilian girls are experiencing the end of their youth. Impossible romances leave marks on their bodies and the surrounding landscape. Each of the friends finds her own particular way to overcome the loneliness and to live within a tangle of uncertainty.