TERRE DES FEMMES presents her second Women`s Film Festival in Tübingen, from the 14th to 20th of November for the international day of  "No to violence against women ". This year, TERRE DES FEMMES will be working in cooperation with the cinemas Arsenal and Museum in Tübingen and Waldhorn in Rottenburg. Once again,  we will lift the veil and glance into the Worlds of Woman, and perhaps even into a world that lies just in front of our door. For the first time, this year the filmweek will be reproduced later in other German cities by TERRE DES FEMMES activist groups.

TERRE DES FEMMES has again intensified its work with respect to the dramatic fate of women in the Near East. This had been the starting point of our founding 21 years ago. It  meant to struggle against honor deaths, forced marriages (the central issue of  TDF on November 25th  and starting point of a year long campaign) and extreme restrictions placed on women’s lives. The terrible situation of the Afghani women under the Taliban came  to the center of world focus as war was waged against Afghanistan. Although there is hope that the situation will improve for women there, on the other hand the women in the Near and Middle East are exposed to aggravated dangers: in addition to  the growing  patriarchal fundamentalism, there are several war conflicts developing throughout the region. And always women and children are the first ones to take the blows.

This is what we try to portray in our glimpse into the world of Islamic women. But, in addition to the portrayal of the problems and limitations that their societies impose on them, it should also be acknowledged that the Islamic world is a complex world that concedes women varying degrees of  opportunity and freedom, which women have fought for and continue to  exercise in just as diverse a way. They  require, that we  acknowledge and respect their particular process of Emancipation. With or without veil – we will encounter  courageous women in the prize winning opening film “The day I became a woman” by Marziyeh Meshkini from Iran, and strong women in "Gabbeh" by the celebrated  Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. We will also encounter self confident women professionals from Yemen in the film, "Explosion of Silence" by Annette von Wangenheim, innovative women in “Divorce Iranian Style”  by Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini, patient and persistent women in "Time of Men,  Time of  Women" by Moufida Tlatli from Tunisia. We will meet militant women in "Women under the Sun" by Sobhi al-Zobaidi, and women longing for Peace in “Hay mish Eishi – this is not a life” from Alia Asoughly, both from Palestine; as well we get to know sensitive and supporting girls, searching for their strength in “Runaway”, the empathetic film depicting a place of refuge for girls in Iran.

Beyond the suffering of women in times of conflict and war, various films appreciate several female fighters – for the most diverse causes. They struggle for new methods of peace initiatives and self-determination for the Indian population in "Rigoberta Menchu" by Felix Zurita, as well as against dictatorship in "Elisabeth Käsemann" by Frieder Wagner and Oswaldo Bayer. Arundhati Roy, the graceful writer from India fights for the rights of the Adivasi people,  against the negative repercussions of the dam projects in India in the film "DAM/AGE" by Aradhana Seth. Together, girls and women in Nicaragua, Africa and Cambodia, fight for their chances of survival in "Vos que sos mi hermana" by Yolanda Olmos, "These Hands" by Flora M´Mbugu-Schelling and "The Rice Field" by Rithy Pangh. In "Faat Kine" by Ousmane Sembène, a resolute, middle class, single mom, with a good sense of humor, fights for the survival of her family. In the very sensitive film "On the Shores of Women without Men" by Lu´u Trong Ninh, silent heroines defend a Vietnamese village from the impact of war. We also will meet a unique and astonishing woman in "Light Warrior" by Monika Treut, who despite her upper-class background, develops an empathetic and  tackling solidarity with Brazilian street children. Central themes are women, who are fighters, their dreams and utopias, which sometimes even coming true.

A special section is honoring a women director who has, time and again, dedicated her work to human rights issues: Jeanine Meerapfel, daughter of  German born Jewish emigrants, who immigrated to Argentina, to flee Hitler. Jeanine was raised in Argentina and later returned to Germany. Her personal biography has led her to work with the themes of exile, asylum, dictatorship and social rights for foreigners in her films, "Desembarcos – there is no forgetting", "In the Country of my Parents", "The Turkish woman is leaving". In her latest film "Anna´s Summer", a German-Greek-Spanish co-production, which premiered in this year’s  Berlinale, she depicts the fascinating Angela Molina, against the blue-green Aegean Sea, in search of the spirits of her ancestors. Jeanine Meerapfel will be present as a guest of the film festival.

Not only does our journey through the world of women lead us to the continents of Asia, Africa and Latin America this year, but also to the girls who are familiar to us -  the modern Turkish girls, who perhaps wear mini-skirts and no head scarf, but must fear for their lives, if they refuse to comply with wedding plans made by their families, and who are,  after marriage, pressured into wearing the head scarf again – in “Yasemin” by Hark Bohm. We also encounter the girl, who has immigrated from Eastern Europe, but is not accepted here as an equal – in “Svetlana” by Tamara Staudt; the Bosnian girl, who returns to her country, after the war – in “Meliha” by Daniela Nase; Nicaraguan teen-age mothers  - in “Tears in my dreams” by Maria José alvarez and Marta Clarissa Hernandez, and street girls from Sambia in “Imiti Ikula” by Sampa Jangwa-Wilkie and Simon Wilkie. We will see documentaries on traffic with women – “Remote Sensing” by Ursula Biemann, female genital mutilation – “Cut into life” by Dagmar Brendecke and Anke Müller-Belecke, reproductive rights – “...like a war” by Deepa Dhanraj, and domestic violence – “The day you will love me” by Florence Jeauguey and “Love that kills” by Iciar Bollain. Again it is reaffirmed, by all these films, that women, despite being subject to unspeakable suffering, will draw on their own power, and develop - together - strength, sensitivity, humor and solidarity to survive.

We thank everyone who has contributed to and helped in the preparation of this film festival.