Filmfestival 2002: A Glimpse into the Worlds of Women
The Movies 2002
| The
day I became a woman (Opening Film) Three episodes within the lives of Iranian women: a young girl enjoys the last minutes of her freedom as a child, which will be denied to her as a nine-year-old “woman”. A bicycle race, a black shrouded woman, a husband and a Mullah on horseback, a divorce, followed by an uprising of the entire male clan against the rebel. An old woman wants to afford what she never had in her whole life. For more information, see: http://www.makhmalbaf.com |
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| Gabbeh
The wonderfully colorful Gabbeh carpets are inspired by everyday life of the nomadic family clans. In the colors of these carpets, within the impressive landscape of south eastern Iran, this poetic film tells the story of Gabbeh - she is the tribal ruler’s stubborn daughter, who rebels against her father to defend her forbidden love. For more information, see: http://www.makhmalbaf.com |
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| Annas
Sommer Against the sparkling backdrop of the Aegean Sea, Anna (Angela Molina) seeks the spirits of her Sephardic Jewish family and at the same time dives into the sensual presence of the island… The director, Jeanine Meerapfel, introduces the film and is present
for conversation with the public. |
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| Yasemin
Yasemin goes to school, practices Judo and appears to be a completely
integrated teen-age Turkish girl in Germany, daughter of a liberal
father. That changes dramatically when she starts to date a German
boy, who her father thinks is a bad candidate for marriage. |
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Desembarcos- Never Forget In a workshop for film directing in Buenos Aires, Jeanine Meerapfel
deals with the past of Argentina’s dictatorship, together
with young Argentinean students. The theme of their films is fear;
however, this prize winning documentary also touches upon the hopes
and dreams of the younger generation in the country where the mothers
of the Plaza de Mayo continue to search for their daughters and
grandchildren, who were kidnapped and disappeared by the military
dictatorship. |
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| The
Turkish woman Leaves Melek doesn’t fit the cliché of the oppressed Turkish
woman. She is self-confident, intelligent, realistic; she wears
a smile on her face and sadness in her eyes. Now she is giving up
her life in Germany and returning to Turkey after 14 years. |
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| In
the Land of My Parents This film is a sort of personal journal for Jeanine Meerapfel, as she embarks on the search for the roots of her Jewish identity within the German reality - a process, which leads to more questions than to clear answers, particularly about German reality. The director, Jeanine Meerspfel, is in attendance to answer questions
after the film. |
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| Divorce
Iranian Style With humor, tears, patience, a few lies and incredible determination,
Iranian women successfully fight in court for their divorces. |
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| Faat-Kine
Faat Kine, a successful business woman managing a gas station in Dakar, has had to fight hard to survive economically. Abandoned by the fathers of her two children, she has nevertheless succeeded, in her job, upbringing her children, and maintaining her high spirits - a humorous look at a strong woman. further information: http://www.neuevisionen.de |
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| Time
of Men, Time of Women Director Moufida Tlatli, one of the few female film makers in the
Arabian world, artistically weaves the tale about the lives of Tunisian
women from three generations - their struggle for independence between
tradition and modernization. further information: http://www.kairosfilm.de/programmgesamt |
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| On
the Shores of Women without Men A small Vietnamese village is populated almost entirely by women,
elderly people and children. This very sensitive film shows how
the decades of absence of warring men has made women the real heroes
of this south eastern Asian country. The film also tells of their
unsatisfied yearnings . . . |
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The Rice Field This feature film of Cambodian director Panh gently depicts the
solidarity of a family of orphaned girls between the ages of 4 and
15, together with their rice field, which has made their survival
possible and whose rhythm give form to their lives. |
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| The
Family in the Rice Field The “making of...” „The Rice Field“ by
Pierre Allain Meier, depicts the coalescence of the family, whose
daughters are portrayed by traditional temple dancers from the Royal
Academy of Fine Arts. |
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| Light
Warrior The warrior of the Light Yvonne Bezerra de Mello (named after a
poem from Paulo Coelho), a sculptor from the Brazilian upper-class,
dedicates her empathy and touching solidarity as lone advocate for
the street children of Rio de Janeiro. She is, in turn, despised
and attacked by her own social class. |
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| Runaway
Girls, who have run away from home, find asylum in a state-run
Iranian home for girls. The charismatic director of the center together
with them sorts out the alternatives: either back to the family
or independence. |
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| Rigoberta
Menchu The images of this film show scenes from meetings of Indian organizations throughout the Americas; landscapes, people fleeing, small farmers hard at work on the plantations and religious rites. We meet Rigoberta Menchu telling the story of her people, which is also the story of many Latin American people. This is film is available for classroom usage. Help:
http://www.ezef.de |
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| Two
Days of Silence under Torture – Elisabeth Käsemann, a
German Fate On July 16, the 30 year old Elisabeth Käsemann was buried
at the Lustnau Cemetery in Tübingen. Her parents publicly announced:
“We have buried today our daughter, born on May 11th 1947
and murdered on May 27th 1977 by the military dictatorship in Buenos
Aires. She gave her life for the sake of freedom and justice in
a beloved country.” Elisabeth is one of 72 German, who were
victims of the Argentinean dictatorship. |
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| Kick
it like Beckham 18-year old Jess doesn’t want to be a conventional Indian.
She wants to play soccer, like her idol Beckham. This fast paced,
teenage comedy takes on cultural expectations of femininity as well
among Indian immigrants, as among average British families. |
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| Red
ribbon around my house An extremely joyous and strong South African elder named Pinky
fights with impressive will against AIDS. |
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| Vos
que sos mi hermana An organization of Nicaraguan women have managed to live virtually
without men, and develop a number of social projects for women such
as midwifery training and birthing homes. Additionally, they have
had to creatively fight for a place in typically male dominated
professions. |
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| These
Hands This extraordinary documentary portrays the lives of women, who
live and work with their children in a quarry. They break down boulders
into small stones with simple hammers for the construction of streets.
Occasionally, they express what their work means to them through
song or dance. |
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| Meliha
After living for five years as a refugee in Cologne, Meliha makes her way back to her home town in Bosnia. This film accompanies her on her journey and throughout her first year in Sarajevo
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| Explosion
of Silence Women in Yemen – the majority of them wear the black full length veil, however – they distribute women’s magazines, work as doctors, and run for office. In cooperation with WDR. |
 © Foto: Annette von Wangenheim |
| Lagrimas
en mis sueños (Tears of Dreams) A teen-age mother from the Nicaraguan Atlantic coast speaks. She gave birth to her first of four children,( from different fathers), at the age of 15. She tells of her experiences and of her family history handed down from generation to generation. |
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| Imiti
Ikula Memory, a tom-boy, living on the streets in South Africa, is antagonized
and abused. However, she defends her honor vehemently – she
is no beggar and works to survive. And: she has AIDS. This film
is an impressive portrait of a courageous girl, who shares food
and fire in solidarity with other street kids. Her dream is to be
able to buy a pair of sun glasses for the coming eclipse of the
sun. |
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| Women
under the sun Amidst the traumatic circumstances of the occupation of Palestine,
the Palestinian Parliament examine increasing Fundamentalism in
Palestine and one of its terrible expressions: “suicides”
supposedly committed by Palestinian women.
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| Hay
mish Eishi (This is no Life) Eight Palestinian women living under occupation – what does
war mean to them? How do they get through their daily lives? What
visions of peace do they have? This is an image, contrary to the
average pictures disseminated throughout the world, of women under
conditions of war, where women make their essential contribution
to the politics of peace with their way of handling conflicts.
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| Like
War... The forty year old history of the Indian state politics concerning
forced and mass sterilization, supported by international organizations,
will be elucidated critically. The meaning of reproduction, sexuality,
children and marriage are the topics of sensitive discussions in
an Indian women’s group. |
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| DAM/AGE The renowned Indian author, Arundhati Roy must spend a day in jail, because she dared to critizise Indian jurisdiction: in doing so, she defended the rights of the Adivasi people, and of the poor people in India, against the damage done by the huge dam projects.. This tiny and subtle woman uses her talent with words to reveal complex interconnections, as a weapon with amazing precision. |
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| Cut
into Life African women tell of their wounds, well as of their efforts and strategies to fight against the cruel tradition of genital mutilation.
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| Svetlana
16 year old Russian-German, Svetlana, takes the first difficult
steps to release herself from the home of her parents and the land
of her heritage, to take a place in her new country. In this process,
a few detours are necessary. |
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| El
dia que me quieras (The Day That You Will Love Me) A look at a few days in the pulsating life of the policewomen,
social workers, and clients in a police station for abused women
in a suburb of the capitol, Managua. With much perseverance, sometimes
also with a sense of humor, they work hard to help these women.
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| Amores
que matan (Love that kills) This is a tragicomic look at violent men, who in this short feature
film, don’t always come willingly to the center for rehabilitation
to break the cycle of violence in marriage. |
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| Remote
Sensing With the use of satellite pictures, and onsite filming, this documentary brings our attention to the magnitude of international trade with women in the whole world.
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Further information you can obtain be e-mail: filmfest@frauenrechte.de
31.01.2003