Afghanistan Unveiled
A film by Brigitte Brault & Aina Women Filming Group

Filmed by the first ever team of women video journalists trained in Afghanistan, this rare and uncompromising film explores the effects of the Taliban’s repressive rule and recent U.S.-sponsored bombing campaign on Afghani women. None of the fourteen journalist trainees had ever traveled outside Kabul. Except for one, none had been able to study or pursue careers while the Taliban controlled their country. More

Afghanistan: The Lost Truth
(Haghighat-e Gomshodeh)
A film by Yassamin Maleknasr

Iranian filmmaker Yassamin Maleknasr takes an unprecedented journey across Afghanistan from Herat to Balkh, becoming the only woman and filmmaker to have traveled such distances since the fall of the Taliban. Despite the turmoil and suffering they have endured, the women, men and children she encounters have heroically held on to their hopes for the future. Maleknasr’s survey is thoughtful and diverse, ranging from rural families who dream of steady employment and peace, to proud female medical students who aspire to serve their country. Extraordinary interviews include a frank discussion about Taliban repression with one of the country’s only women judges, and an emotional conversation with filmmaker Siddiq Barmak, director of the Afghani feature Osama, describing the regime’s senseless destruction of countless films and works of art. More

Enemies of Happiness
(Vores Lykkes Fjender)
A film by Eva Mulvad and Anja Al-Erhayem

"In September 2005, Afghanistan held its first parliamentary elections in 35 years. Among the candidates for 249 assembly seats was Malalai Joya, a courageous, controversial 27-year-old woman who had ignited outrage among hard-liners when she spoke out against corrupt warlords at the Grand Council of tribal elders in 2003. ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS is a revelatory portrait of this extraordinary freedom fighter and the way she won the hearts of voters, as well as a snapshot of life and politics in war-torn Afghanistan. More

	Sundance F F, World Cinema Prize: Documentary
	Int’l Doc Fest Amsterdam (IDFA), Silver Wolf Award

For a Place Under the Heavens
A film by Sabiha Sumar

Acclaimed director Sabiha Sumar, recent winner of the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival for her feature Silent Waters, offers an insightful perspective on Pakistan in this finely crafted personal film. Beginning with the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Sumar traces the relationship of Islam to the state in an effort to understand how women are coping with and surviving the increasing religiosity of civil and political life in her country. Raised in a more secular time, she struggles to comprehend how religious schools have expanded at once unthinkable rates and presents chilling footage of a mother encouraging her toddler to be a martyr when he grows up. Mixing political analysis with interviews with activist colleagues, noted Islamic scholars and Pakistani women who have chosen to embrace fundamentalism, Sumar’s provocative questions dramatically capture the tension between liberal and fundamentalist forces that are shaping life in contemporary Pakistan. More

Four Wives – One Man
A film by Nahid Persson, Produced by Setareh Persson & Nahid Persson



From Nahid Persson, the filmmaker of the award-winning Prostitution Behind the Veil, comes an intimate portrait of a polygamist family in a rural Iranian village. Persson reveals the intricacies of the relationships between the four wives, their husband, their astoundingly free-spoken mother-in-law and their numerous children. Sometimes humorous and often heartbreaking, this film follows the daily lives of the wives whose situation has turned them into both bitter rivals and co-conspirators against their abusive husband. More

Haram
Yemen, The Hidden Half Speaks
A film by Fibi Kraus and Gudrun Torrubia

Produced at the request of the Yemeni Women National Committee, HARAM offers a surprising look at women’s lives and gender roles in contemporary Yemen. This astonishing film presents the affecting personal narratives of individual women struggling for self-determination, including Aisha, who defies both tribal law and her imposing father to sneak off to school and educate herself. When she is discovered, an entire village comes to her aid, convincing her father to drop his threats to kill her for the “crime” of being educated. Aisha, now a doctor with her own NGO, is an inspiring model of resistance against tradition, and her family’s experience suggests with profound poignancy that change is possible. More

Iranian Journey
A film by Maysoon Pachachi, Produced by Noura Sakkaf and Iraj Emami

Massoumeh Soltan Baloghie is the first woman long-distance bus driver in Iran and perhaps in the Islamic world. Iraqi filmmaker Maysoon Pachachi joins this extraordinary woman on her 22-hour, 5,000-kilometer trip from Tehran to Bandar Abbas, talking with her passengers, her family and people en route to learn more about her remarkable story. These casual conversations strikingly reveal the overwhelming sense of expectation Iranians express about the possibility of change in their country, and the relationship between traditional and modern life, city and countryside, sacred and secular. More

The Ladies Room
Zananeh
A film by Mahnaz Afzali, Produced by Hassan Poor-Shirazi & Mahnaz Afzali

Directed by the acclaimed Iranian actress Mahnaz Afzali and filmed entirely inside a ladies washroom in a public park in Tehran, this absorbing documentary shatters Western preconceptions of Iranian women. Populated by addicts, prostitutes, runaway girls and others who simply enjoy the camaraderie and atmosphere, the ladies room becomes one of the few places where women feel comfortable enough to smoke cigarettes, discuss taboo subjects and remove their veils. In a series of frank and intimate conversations, these diverse women debate everything from drugs and family abuse, to sex, relationships and religion. More

Leila Khaled: Hijacker
A film by Lina Makboul

In 1969 Palestinian Leila Khaled made history by becoming the first woman to hijack an airplane. As a Palestinian child growing up in Sweden, filmmaker Lina Makboul admired Khaled for her bold actions; as an adult, she began asking complex questions about the legacy created by her childhood hero. This fascinating documentary is at once a portrait of Khaled, an exploration of the filmmaker’s own understanding of her Palestinian identity, and a complicated examination of the nebulous dichotomy between "terrorist" and "freedom fighter." More

Full Frame Doc F F, Spectrum Award, Hon. Mention

Linda & Ali
Two Worlds within Four Walls
A film by Lut Vandekeybus

LINDA AND ALI provides a nuanced and intimate look into the life of a traditional Muslim family in Doha, Qatar. But Linda and Ali’s 20-year marriage is far from traditional. Linda was brought up Catholic in Arizona and met Ali – a Shiite Muslim from Qatar – at college in the 1980’s. Shot during the American invasion of Iraq, this poignant film shows how Linda and Ali struggle to surmount their cultural differences while raising their seven children in a lively, loving home. More

My Home - Your War
A film by Kylie Grey. Produced by Denoux Films Productions

MY HOME – YOUR WAR offers an extraordinary look at the effect of the Iraq war through the eyes of an ordinary Iraqi woman. Shot in Baghdad over three years that span the time before, during and after the invasion of Iraq, this profoundly moving film brings a perspective that – until now – has rarely been available to U.S. audiences. More

	AU TV ATOM, Best Doc: Social & Political Issues
	Australian TV ATOM, Best Doc: Human Story

The Noble Struggle
of Amina Wadud
A film by Elli Safari

On March 18, 2005, Amina Wadud shocked the Islamic world by leading a mixed-gender Friday prayer congregation in New York. THE NOBLE STRUGGLE OF AMINA WADUD is a fascinating and powerful portrait of this African-American Muslim woman who soon found herself the subject of much debate and Muslim juristic discourse. In defying 1400 years of Islamic tradition, her action caused global awareness of the struggle for women’s rights within Islam but also brought violence and death threats against her. More

Paradise Lost
A film by Ibtisam Salh Mara'ana

Arab Israeli filmmaker Ibtisam Salh Mara'ana grew up in Paradise (Fureidis in Arabic), a small fishing village overlooking the Mediterranean. One of the few Arab communities remaining after the 1948 war, Paradise became culturally and politically isolated as Jewish settlements sprung up around it, and today it is a place defined by silence and repression. More

Picture Me an Enemy
A film by Nathalie Applewhite, Produced by Nathalie Applewhite and Rene Lego

Wars in the former Yugoslavia were among the most brutal in recent history, yet understanding of these events is still vague and detached. PICTURE ME AN ENEMY puts a human face on these conflicts through the stories of two young women from opposite sides of the battle lines. More

Search for Freedom
A film by Munizae Jahangir

SEARCH FOR FREEDOM traces the dramatic social and political history of Afghanistan from the 1920s to the present through the stories of four remarkable women: Princess Shafiqa Saroj, sister of the beloved progressive King Amanullah (1919-1929); Mairman Parveen, the first woman to sing on Afghan radio; Moshina, a war widow and survivor of a Taliban massacre; and Sohaila, an exiled medical student who ran underground schools for RAWA (Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women) during the Taliban regime. More

Soraida, Woman of Palestine
A film by Tahani Rached

Meeting Soraida will overturn any preconceived notions you may have about Palestine. In her neighborhood in Ramallah, the women do not all wear veils, the men do not rattle off empty political slogans, the young people do not strap bombs to their belts, and the children play together like children everywhere. In this city under siege and a strict curfew, she fights her own battle: despite the military occupation, violence and oppression, she is determined not to lose her humanity. In chronicling daily injustices and routine indignities– will there be enough water for the plants? Will school be open today? – this powerful documentary paints a subtly devastating portrait of life under occupation. Soraida wonders how to reconcile the multiple facets of her identity – as a woman, a mother and a committed Palestinian. As a patriot, she is tempted to join the struggle, while as a mother, she is responsible for her two children and must keep her distance. More

That Paradise Will Be Mine
A film by Merel Beernink

Why would a woman in one of the most liberal Western European countries choose to become a Muslim and faithfully follow the demands of her new conviction – including wearing the veil? This eye-opening film follows the lives of three women dealing with the consequences of their choice to convert to Islam. Rather than pressing the women for the reasons behind their choice, director Merel Beernink takes a close look at their day-to-day lives, letting them speak candidly about how they feel in their new cultural and religious context. More

These Girls
(El-Banate Dol)
A film by Tahani Rached

Screened to audiences at the Cannes, Toronto, and New York film festivals, this fresh, irresistibly lively, intensely engaging documentary from widely acclaimed Egyptian director Tahani Rached (SORAÏDA, WOMAN OF PALESTINE and FOUR WOMEN OF EGYPT) follows a band of teenage girls living on the streets of Cairo. Rached won astonishing access to the girls’ world; this vigorous, cinematic film is built upon the deep trust of its subjects and the long experience of the filmmaker. Already at a disadvantage as impoverished and abused girls in a Muslim society, they encounter rape, drug addiction, prostitution, pregnancy and motherhood on the streets. While the girls’ troubles are not downplayed, neither are their courage, playfulness and vibrant camaraderie. More

	Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen, Prix Ulysse
	Carthage Film Festival, Jury Award

They Call Me Muslim
A film by Diana Ferrero

In popular Western imagination, a Muslim woman in a veil – or hijab – is a symbol of Islamic oppression. But what does it mean for women’s freedom when a democratic country forbids the wearing of the veil? In this provocative documentary, filmmaker Diana Ferrero portrays the struggle of two women – one in France and one in Iran – to express themselves freely. More

	Bellaria Film Festival, Premio Avanti
	Sguardi Altrove Int'l F F, Concorso Italia

3 Times Divorced
A film by Ibtisam Salh Mara'ana



How does a Palestinian woman in Israel survive an abusive husband? When Gaza-born Khitam’s abusive Arab Israeli husband divorces her and gains custody of her six children, she suddenly finds herself fighting two heart-breaking battles: against the Sharia Muslim court to get her children back, and against the state of Israel, which considers her an illegal resident and denies her protection in a shelter for battered women. More

	Doc Aviv Film Festival, Best Israeli Documentary
	FIPA-Biarritz, FIPA D'ARGENT Special Prize

A Woman's Word
(Palabra de Mujer)
A film by Silvia G. Ponzoda

Beautiful and intimate, A WOMAN'S WORD depicts the life and writings of three exceptional authors of the Arab word – Nawal Al Saadawi from Egypt, Hanan Al Shaykh from Lebanon, and Janata Bennuna from Morocco. For all three women, becoming a writer was never a choice but a necessity – a vocation fought for and hard won. In her own way, each writer struggles as an Arab woman in a society that often wants to shut down her powerful voice. Conveying the intense drive of these women to write as a way to make sense of the world, to battle their sense of alienation or to express their political dissent, this documentary shatters the clichéd image of the oppressed and helpless Arab woman too often portrayed in the media. More

San Diego Women Film Festival, Jury Award

Women in Struggle
A film by Buthina Canaan Khoury

WOMEN IN STRUGGLE presents rare testimony from four female Palestinian ex-detainees who disclose their experiences during their years of imprisonment in Israeli jails and the effect it has had on their present lives and future outlooks. Once content in their lives as sisters, wives and mothers, each of the women became active members for the national fight for Palestinian independence, but their “crimes” differed markedly–one woman was detained in a peaceful protest while another was arrested for her participation in a bombing. More

	AMWA Excellence in Media Award
	Ismaelia Film Fest, Hussam Ali Award& Jury Mention

Women Like Us
A film by Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri

Filmmaker Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri returns to Iran after 20 years as an expatriate to present this intimate and revealing portrait of five ordinary Iranian women: a nurse, a journalist, a rice farmer, a religious college graduate and a piano teacher. Against a backdrop of Islam, revolution and war, they share their views on the veil, the relationship of Iranian women to the West and the long-ranging impacts of the 1979 Revolution on the status of women in their country. What emerges is an image of Iran that resists easy classification, a nation in flux at a unique historical moment, still reeling from the residual effects of the Iran-Iraq war but poised for a new future. More