Jamilia is for all women living in patriarchal societies (therefore pretty much all societies) around the world. You’ll get to hear from a number of Kyrgyz women, young and old, married and single, that are hoping for a freer future.
From: Kyrgyzstan, AsiaContinue reading “Jamilia – Hear from the Women of Kyrgyzstan”
Watch: Trailer, Rent on Amazon
Next: Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania, Liyana, Freedom Fields
Despite reforms from MBS, the current ruler of Saudi Arabia, 1,000 women escape Saudi Arabia each year. Saudi Runaway follows Muna, a typical Saudi Arabian woman trying to make herself one of the 1,000 to escape the oppressive patriarchy. All the footage is shot on her phone camera, often in secret from under her hijab, to document a snippet of her life.
Muna gains our trust right from the start by showing us things we shouldn’t see. She takes us into the crowds of the Hajj pilgrimage circling the Kaaba by capturing the crowds from a phone camera hidden under her veil. She also documents her family secretly in prayer and the patriarchal words her family and fiance say without realizing they’re being filmed. From these secretive observational moments we can start to build a picture of the society and family she lives in and its restrictiveness. We can also feel the risk she’s taking in secretively filming her family. She obviously hasn’t told them about the film as all they’re faces are blurred. Because of the risks she takes and secretive shots she has shared with us, she immediately gains out trust and empathy.
The film strengthens our connection with Muna through a series of video diary entries in which she shares experiences from her life and plans her escape. We hear about the patriarchal oppression she faces: how her husband won’t let her drive and how she can’t go to the supermarket or leave the house without a man. We also hear about her slim chance for escape: she cannot leave the country without a man’s permission in Saudi Arabia, so she has to get married before attempting an escape in the UAE whilst she’s on her honeymoon. Amazingly, she captures all of the tension of her ordeal, even taking a minute to document her final thoughts before she attempts her escape.
The only fault I could give this exciting documentary is the touch of melodrama the European director adds to the raw footage from Muna. In some of the tense moments, the soundtrack feels like it’s emphasizing the emotions more than it needs to. It makes the film feel ‘more produced’ and therefore less intimate and trustworthy by taking away from the realness of the first hand footage shot by Muna. The ‘dear Sue’ addresses in Muna’s video diary also make the film feel more like an act, by recognizing the foreign hand in its creation.
Overall, Saudi Runaway is a documentary that any fans of escape documentaries (see Midnight Traveller) or viewers interested at an inside look of Saudi Arabia should watch.
Head to our Sundance Film Festival Hub for more reviews from the Sundance Film Festival 2020.
If you’re looking for an inspirational documentary that follows a group of trailblazing women in India, consider Writing with Fire. It follows a group of Dalit women – Dalits being the lowest caste in the Indian caste system – that start a newspaper in Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s largest and most politically important states. The newspaper, Khabar Lahariya, stands out from the others both because it’s written only by women and because of its emphasis to seek out the truth no matter what.
It starts with one of the paper’s lead journalists reporting on a local rape case. In it, we witness their reporting process. Meera first interviews the victim’s family for first hand info, then heads to the police station to press them further on the crime, before beginning to form a report. We see this process a few times throughout the film as they interview politicians, Dalit women without sewage systems that the government has promised, and worker’s strikes. Because of the topics they shine a light on and their determination to find answers, they face a lot of trouble.
This is clear when the reporters are out in the field. One reporter has to confront one union leader who at first refuses to talk with her because she’s a woman. Another reporter covering the upcoming elections has to banter with the male politicians just to try and get comments from them. It’s clear that being patronized is a part of their day job in the patriarchal society. However, they also have to put up with it at home from husbands that berate their independent working spirit.
It’s not just the patriarchy that is framed as dangerous to the reporters as the rising Hindu nationalism within India is posed as a threat too. One example is the young member of some kind of Hindu Youth League that patrols his neighborhood armed with a machete to fight crime. His role feels a lot like the Hitler Youth from Nazi Germany. He doesn’t appear to have much direction apart from his hatred of Muslims. The rhetoric of the local politicians are equally alarming, with the directors pointing out the new state leaders remarks that Islam is intrinsically linked with Terrorism. It feels like that the freedom of Khabar Lahariya and its female journalists are threatened by the continued rise of the male dominated BJP Hindu political party.
Lastly, it’s quite interesting to see exactly how a start-up newspaper is run. In addition to seeing how they gather a story from outside, we get to see how the newspaper is run at the office. We see their daily meetings – including one where one reporter gets disciplined for a low output – and hear about their growth strategies. Currently, they’re all embracing the switch to the growing digital reality by equipping all their reporters with camera phones and giving them lessons about YouTube. As the film runs, these YouTube clips are inserted into the narrative as milestones for their growth as their subscribers rocket to a few thousand after a few weeks work.
Whilst it’s probably a bit longer than it needs to be, Writing with Fire is well worth a watch for anyone interested in learning about inspirational women battling the patriarchy around the world. If anything, you’ll learn a bit about the current state of India and running a newspaper.
You must be logged in to post a comment.