Pushing Boundaries

Masters and Slaves
(MAÎTRES ET ESCLAVES)

Bernard Debord
France 2001 | 84 Min. | BetaSP, OmeU
Although the gov­ern­ment denies it, slav­ery still exists today in Niger. The feudal soci­ety of nomadic tribes recog­nis­es two class­es: the mas­ters who own the ani­mals and tents, and the … read more

Purity
(TEHORA)

Anat Zuria
Israel 2002 | 63 Min. | BetaSP, OmeU
Israeli film­mak­er Anat Zuria exam­ines the “Tharat Hamish­pa­ha” (family purity), the ancient laws and rit­u­als which shape wom­en’s lives and sex­u­al­i­ty within Jewish Ortho­doxy, giving a subtle voice to female … read more

RUNAWAY

Kim Longinotto, Ziba Mir-Hosseini
Great Britain 2001 | 87 Min. | 35 mm, OmeU

Female direc­tors Kim Longinot­to and Ziba Mir-Hos­sei­ni, who pre­vi­ous­ly col­lab­o­rat­ed on the mem­o­rable doc­u­men­tary DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE, are back in Teheran. This time they are vis­it­ing a centre for girls who have run away from home. Treat­ing their hero­ines with a great deal of under­stand­ing and respect, the film­mak­ers enter into their trou­ble­some lives. The film crew obvi­ous­ly suc­ceed­ed in gain­ing the full trust of the girls, because we see them open­ing up with­out being both­ered by the pres­ence of the camera. In spite of being raised by their family and soci­ety to obey and never talk back, these girls have found the courage to stand up for their freedom. 

By leav­ing their homes, they are trying to turn a new page in life. But what are their chances? As an offi­cial insti­tu­tion in Iran­ian soci­ety, this Centre also has to play accord­ing to the rules. Nev­er­the­less, the charis­mat­ic and firm Mrs Shi­razi, who runs the place, always finds a way to rene­go­ti­ate the rela­tion­ships between the par­ents and the run­aways. With­out being voyeuris­tic, the film­mak­ers follow cer­tain cases from the moment the girls enter the Centre until the moment they go back home. 

THE DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET

Kim Longinotto
Great Britain 2002 | 92 Min. | 35 mm, OmeU
THE DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET is a grip­ping fea­ture doc­u­men­tary by acclaimed film­mak­er Kim Longinot­to (DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE AND RUNAWAY) that exam­ines the prac­tice of female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion in … read more