Category Archives: Women,s voices

Documentary Section, Women,s voices

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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Short Films Section, Women,s voices

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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- Official Section -, Women,s voices

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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Documentary Section, Women,s voices

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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Women,s voices

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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Short Films Section, Women,s voices

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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Short Films Section, Women,s voices

Tria (Giulia Grandinetti) Italy

Tria
Giulia Grandinetti
Italy. 2022. 17 min

In a dystopian Rome, a law is enforced which doesn’t allow immigrant families to have more than three children. If a fourth is to be expected, he or she must be born, however, one of them must then be killed, giving the females priority for sacrifice. Zoe, Iris and Clio are three sisters, but one of them will soon be killed…

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Short Films Section, Women,s voices

The Violent (Sasha Gromova) Russia

The Violent
Sasha Gromova
Russia. 2023. 16 min

Zhenya is 15. Besides being a quiet and sensible boy, he is a promising violinist. Behind the door of Zhenya’s bedroom he daily hears his tyrannical stepfather being violent with the boy’s mother, but cannot find the courage to intervene. One sunny morning Zhenya comes to a decision to radically change his family’s life.

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