Girls On Film
For the past 10 days Dubai has been treated to films from across the globe as part of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). It isn't in the same league as Melbourne or Toronto but obviously provides film makers with a great opportunity and allows locals and expats keen to learn more about religion and culture.
Storm in the South is about three Kuwaiti women who are making history in their country. They're each running for a seat in the elections in the South, an area known for its conservatism and tribal traditions. Women have never been allowed to run for office before now and this area is rife with corruption; vote buying exists. The film follows their campaign trail for each woman over the course of a month. There's a shot of one man who says women will never be in parliament' which gives you some idea of the mentality that these women face everyday. Then there's the public rallies where women are in burquas, (that's women who are fully covered and you can only see their eyes), publicly declaring that they will vote for one of the female candidates which gives you great hope and inspiration and the whole time you're thinking....yes, they're going to get in.
Election day comes and there appears to be a good vibe amongst the voters and each candidate walks amongst the crowd saying 'today Kuwaiti women will make history...'. The count starts. Then it closes...and then the tally comes up on the screen and they show that one of the women came in at number 8th in her area and that she got 1,400 out of 11,000 votes in the district. There was a communal groan in the audience. What happened? So many of the women in the show said 'I'll vote for you...'?'I want to see women in parliament...' and yet when it came obviously not enough women were able to bring about change. It was heart wrenching.
Not having experienced anything to do with war, it was also interesting to note that a lot of the stories told was centered around war torn cities and families. Some were shot in real locations such as the West Bank. It was amazing to see how resilient the human race can be and reminded me that I've have such a privileged white Western existence and have no idea of the level of pain and suffering that people continue to live in.
Storm in the South is about three Kuwaiti women who are making history in their country. They're each running for a seat in the elections in the South, an area known for its conservatism and tribal traditions. Women have never been allowed to run for office before now and this area is rife with corruption; vote buying exists. The film follows their campaign trail for each woman over the course of a month. There's a shot of one man who says women will never be in parliament' which gives you some idea of the mentality that these women face everyday. Then there's the public rallies where women are in burquas, (that's women who are fully covered and you can only see their eyes), publicly declaring that they will vote for one of the female candidates which gives you great hope and inspiration and the whole time you're thinking....yes, they're going to get in.
Election day comes and there appears to be a good vibe amongst the voters and each candidate walks amongst the crowd saying 'today Kuwaiti women will make history...'. The count starts. Then it closes...and then the tally comes up on the screen and they show that one of the women came in at number 8th in her area and that she got 1,400 out of 11,000 votes in the district. There was a communal groan in the audience. What happened? So many of the women in the show said 'I'll vote for you...'?'I want to see women in parliament...' and yet when it came obviously not enough women were able to bring about change. It was heart wrenching.
Not having experienced anything to do with war, it was also interesting to note that a lot of the stories told was centered around war torn cities and families. Some were shot in real locations such as the West Bank. It was amazing to see how resilient the human race can be and reminded me that I've have such a privileged white Western existence and have no idea of the level of pain and suffering that people continue to live in.
posted by kookie at
4:01 pm
1 Comments:
Sounds like a great film. The kind of worthy documentary you would not normally go out of your way to see at any other film festival, but being close to that culture is actually fascinating. I wonder if it will get exported.
I saw 'When the Levee Breaks' last week - the Spike Lee documentary about Hurricaine Katrina and its aftermath. Highly recommend it. Compelling and depressing.
By
Mr E, at 3:14 pm
Post a Comment
<< Home