Category Archives: Women,s voices

Under the Sky of Damascus (Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh) Denmark

Under the Sky of Damascus
Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh
Denmark. 2023. 88 min

A tight-knit group of young Syrian women embark upon on a radical project: producing a play that lays bare the culture of misogyny and sexual abuse that has blighted the lives of females in their country for generations. Farah, Eliana, Inana, Souhir and Grace want to blow the whistle on women’s oppression, though they know their production will make it even harder for them to get work. Collaborating with exiled Syrian filmmakers Heba Khaled (making her feature debut) and Talal Derki (the Oscar-nominated OF FATHERS AND SONS)—and Ali Wajeeh on the ground in Damascus—the women fan out through the war-weary city to gather individual stories that will form the basis of their play. They record testimonies from across the socio-economic spectrum, from actresses to factory workers to stay-at-home mothers. What emerges are variations of the same harrowing tale: stories of abuse, blackmail and even imprisonment at hands of husbands, brothers, fathers, employers and powerful officials who wield unchecked patriarchal power to keep them trapped without access to justice.

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And Still I Sing (Fazila Amiri) Canada, Afghanistan

And Still I Sing
Fazila Amiri
Canada, Afghanistan. 2022. 89 min

DESPITE DEATH THREATS, THREE FEMALE AFGHAN SINGERS FIGHT FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS THROUGH MUSIC.

Afghanistan’s controversial pop star and activist Aryana Sayeed mentors hopeful contestants on the hit singing TV series Afghan Star.

For 13 straight seasons, the show has featured only male winners. In 2019, this was about to change. Female singers Zahra Elham and Sadiqa Madadgar are on the verge of success as their hopes and dreams of becoming national singers begin to turn into reality.

Their lives are turned upside down when the Taliban return to power, reversing twenty years of progress for women’s rights. Amidst the fear caused by the fall of the Afghan government, each woman must make a harrowing escape from Kabul into exile while the US fully evacuates.

And I Still Sing is the first feature film by award-winning Afghan Canadian writer and director, Fazila Amiri. Amiri is an alumni of the 2021 Cannes Docs, 2020 Hot Docs Accelerator Lab and 2019 RIDM Talent Lab.

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Leber (Shervineh Didaneh) Iran

Leber
Shervineh Didaneh
Iran. 2023. 20 min

Yaghma is afflicted by Leber (Leber is a Hereditary optical disease that all children inherit from the mother) and is getting more blurred day by day and she is on the verge of absolute blindness. She hides her disease from her husband because she believes in miracle and her hopes for getting better, but When immigrating to Germany, she realized that she will soon lose her sight and she spent her remaining days in doubt about telling or not telling the truth to her love.

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B32 to 44 (Shruthi Sharanyam) India. Official Section

B32 to 44
Shruthi Sharanyam
India. 2023. 110 min

B 32″ to 44″ takes a comprehensive look at the social, cultural and the political relevance of “Breast”, a significant part of female anatomy, in the context of a southern India city, which has yet to embrace the change and the progressive thinking. B 32″ to 44″ revolves around 6 women hailing from different social strata of Kochi, a southern Indian city and how “breast”, a body part, which has been a source of fascination, controversy and symbolism, becomes pivotal in deciding the course of their lives.

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Laughing in Afghanistan (Anneta Papathanassiou) Greece

Laughing in Afghanistan
Anneta Papathanassiou
Greece. 2022. 90 min

Karim Asir, the Afghan Charlie Chaplin, wants to change the world using pantomime and humor. Amidst bombs and destruction, laughter is his only weapon. After the Taliban takeover Karim receives death threats and fears for his life. A difficult decision seems unavoidable. Can laughter change the world?

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Roots in the Wind (Soraya Akhlaqi) Afghanistan

Roots in the Wind
Soraya Akhlaqi
Afghanistan. 2022. 26 min

In 1979, after the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan, millions of Afghans were forced to leave their homeland to save their lives, and in the meantime, a huge wave of them immigrated to Iran.
Now, after 4 decades of living in Iran, their second and third generations have been born. They have not seen their motherland and have not had the experience of living there; On the other hand, they are not accepted as citizens in Iran. This suspension has placed them in a diasporic situation.
During these years, the Iranian government has made many restrictions on their access to facilities and services. Prohibition and legal restrictions in choosing residence, travel, job, marriage ban with Iranians, not having the right to have ownership documents and deprivation of a large part of food, health and education subsidies have formed a set of laws that emphasize on their temporary nature and not belonging to the geography of Iran.

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On Xerxes Throne (Evi Kalogiropoulou) Greece

On Xerxes Throne
Evi Kalogiropoulou
Greece. 2022. 16 min

A dystopian workplace at the Perama shipyard. A ban on physical contact has turned human interaction into otherworldly simulations. The suppression of touch has alienated the workers communication transforming the boatyard into a charged landscape of alienation and repressed sensuality beyond stereotypical heteronormative desires. According to local legend, the Persian King Xerxes watched the overwhelming defeat of his fleet from his throne on the rocky peaks of Mount Egaleo, in today’s Perama.

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