WUNRN
FILM SEGMENT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-i_ddHSVZw
YEMEN - FILM - THE SCREAM
Yemen Women Voices on Challenges of
Government, Society, Traditions
In a country that has little place for a woman’s voice, Yemen – and the rest of the world - was stunned when Yemeni women took to the streets to draw attention to their suffering. Women played an important role in the Yemeni uprisings against dictatorship. From the Yemeni film-maker Khadija Al-Salami, whose films focus on women’s issues and corruption, THE SCREAM examines the aftermath of their participation: they hoped for democracy, but what did they ultimately achieve? And more importantly, what are they left with?
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http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/17/255618.html
THE SCREAM - FILM - YEMEN WOMEN MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD
By AFP - Dubai
At the peak of the uprising against now ousted Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah
Saleh, Khadija al-Salami left her diplomatic post in Paris to film the mass
participation by long-marginalized women in the revolt.
In her documentary “The Scream,” screened at the Dubai International Film
Festival, Salami -- who was forced to marry aged just 11 -- focuses on the role
women played during the year-long uprising in the impoverished Arab state.
“Traditionally, a woman’s voice must not be heard, just as her hair must remain
covered,” said Salami, who herself does not cover her long dark hair.
“I chose this title for my film because women have shouted out through their
uprising and movement that they exist” in Yemen’s male-dominated society, she
said.
“They screamed out their suffering, announcing that their revolt is not only
against the government but also against all of Yemeni society, including their
husbands and fathers.”
Filming in the vast sit-in camp that sprang up outside the gates of Sanaa
University, Salami followed the daily lives of black-clad women who
demonstrated alongside men until Saleh finally quit under a power transfer deal
signed in November 2011.
“I was amazed to see these women standing up” for their rights in Yemen, she
said. “I wanted to be part of the revolt.”
In “The Scream,” Salami follows Rahma the journalist, Balqis the human rights
activist and Huda the poet -- three women who played major roles throughout the
uprising.
The film shows Rahma fearlessly contacting senior
officials to denounce the use of prohibited weapons by security forces against
protesters.
Balqis, meanwhile, breaks the conservative tradition that women do not visit
coffee shops and is seen sitting at a cafeteria, boldly discussing gender
equality with the men.
And Huda the poet is seen climbing atop the podium at the camp, which became
known as Change Square, and making fiery speeches to encourage demonstrators.
The women, who insist on being part of the uprising, refuse to put up their own
tents away from those of the men, and they soon begin facing problems in
Yemen's ultra-conservative and deeply tribal community.
“Women took to the streets alongside men but they were beaten and harassed by
so-called revolutionaries,” said Salami. “How can a man be rebelling against a
regime while oppressing his (female) partner?”
Her film also shows women being treated with contempt by the companions of a
prominent religious figure, as Saleh himself in his speeches criticised the
mixing of the sexes among opposition ranks.
As it nears its end, “The Scream” portrays the disappointment of women as they
realize that the uprising has failed to improve their status within Yemeni
society.
But “now women do not fear anybody. They have a voice and they will continue
the struggle to achieve their rights,” said Salami. However she concedes that
it will be “a long fight.”
In Paris Salami also filmed prominent Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman after she
won the Nobel Peace Prize for her influential role during the uprising.
Salami is already working on a new film that tells the
stories of girls who have been forced to marry older men, an ancient
traditional practice in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country which she
condemns as “organized rape.”
The 46-year-old Salami was herself forced by her family to marry a 20-year-old
man when she was only 11.
“I felt I was abused. I had two choices -- either I end my own life or rebel
against society,” she said. “I chose the latter and got a divorce, but only
after much difficulty.”
She believes her salvation came through education. She won a scholarship to
continue her schooling in the United States and later became director of the
Paris-based Centre for Communication and Culture of Yemen.
In 2006, Salami published, with Charles Hoots, her book “Tears of Sheba. Tales
of Survival and Intrigue in Arabia.”
Its title, she said, is to “remind people that women had ruled Yemen” during
the country’s ancient past.
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