Censored Women’s Film Festival: Berlin

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Filmmakers and activists gather for the second-annual summit featuring films by and for women whose voices have been censored

BERLIN – 

WHEN:  December 12, 2016 
WHERE:  Sputnik Kino, Höfe am Südstern, Hasenheide 54, 10967 Berlin, Germany

HOSTED BY: Honor Diaries

WEBSITE: www.censoredwomen.com

Activists and filmmakers from all over the world will present their films and join the conversation on women’s rights, including two Afghani filmmakers/refugees, currently seeking asylum in Europe.  Both Hassan Fazili and Rahmat Haidari fled to Europe after receiving death threats in response to their films and advocacy for women’s rights.

“We received over 60 submissions from all over the world, and I was struck that film is being used to disrupt and challenge tyranny.  These films provide an uncanny and intimate look into women’s lives and struggles.  They are a celebration of empowerment,” said Paula Kweskin, founder of the Censored Women’s Film Festival and writer/producer of the award-winning (and previously censored) documentary Honor Diaries.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

·       Fiona Carr Head of Communications, Girls Not Brides

·       Hassan Fazili, Afghani filmmaker seeking asylum in Serbia; received death threats from Taliban for his work

·       Rahmat Haidari, exiled Afghani filmmaker seeking asylum; fled Kabul after receiving death threats regarding his work 

·       Leyla Hussein, British-Somali anti-FGM activist

·       Paula Kweskin, Festival founder, human rights attorney, writer/producer of Honor Diaries

·       Raheel Raza Pakistani-Canadian Muslim women’s rights activist, featured in Honor Diaries

·       Fatima Sabri Afghani women’s rights activist

·       Jasvinder Sanghera CBE survivor of forced marriage; founder of UK charity Karma Nirvana, author, featured in Honor Diaries and Forced Marriage Cops

·       Düzen Tekkal Yezidi journalist & author, director of Háwar

FILMS FEATURED:

·       Sonita (Iran/Germany): An Afghan-born teenager who – facing the threat of being sold into child marriage by her family – escapes to Iran. There, she is determined to control her destiny through music, and pursue her dream of becoming a rap star.

·       Háwar (Germany/Iraq): A Yazidi woman in Germany travels for the first time to her homeland in northern Iraq where ISIS terrorists commit inconceivable atrocities.

·       The Broken Destiny of Poetry (Afghanistan): Female poets in Afghanistan often fight for their right to read and write their poems.

·       Dukhtar (Pakistan): A mother and her ten-year-old daughter flee their home on the eve of the girl’s marriage to a tribal leader – and a deadly hunt for them begins.

·       Forced Marriage Cops (UK): This film investigates the cases of forced marriage in the UK with unprecedented access to the Manchester Police Force.

·       Honor Diaries (USA): Women speaking out against honor killings, child marriage, FGM and censorship.

·       A Pinch of Skin (India): This film juxtaposes female genital mutilation as a part of traditional Indian culture with the small voice of those considering it to be sexual politics.