Documentary films put women’s issues in spotlight

Speaking out and displaying images  reflecting women’s issues has been the aim of most of Khadija Salami’s documentary films, which have stemmed from an effort to do something on behalf  of her Yemeni countrywomen. Continuing on this theme, Salami’s new film “Amina” brings to light the true story of a woman jailed and accused of killing her husband whom she wed before she reached the legal age of marriage. Convicted, Amina was sentenced to death before she reached the legal age of execution.

The documentary is a portrait of the violence women face in any society, not only in Yemen, although its focus is to show how Yemeni women are taken out of school at an early age for purposes of marriage. 

Recently this film, which was directed, produced and written by the Salami, received a new recognition as the best documentary film at the Arabian Sea Cinema Festival on the Italian island of Messina.

Salami, Yemen’s first female film-maker, has made some 20 documentaries for various TV stations in Yemen and France. She also published her memoirs, The Tears of Sheba, in 2003. The documentarian is also the director of the Communications Center at the Yemen Embassy in Paris. 

Upon receiving the award, Salami told the French Press Agency (APF) that her experience at the festival was one of great joy, because she felt that it was nearly a family reunion; she was also grateful for the positive comments she received from international film critics. She added that she plans to begin filming in Yemen  following her departure from the festival, and that in her new film she will address the problems related to the remaining cultural tradition of revenge in some regions of Yemen. 

Amina, the protagonist of Salami’s  newest film, once told journalists: "I lived all my childhood in the countryside taking care of my goats. My family forced me to get married to a person whom I did not love. They did that in order to help my older brother to get married to a girl of that family." Amina lived in prison for nine years and attended the court without having a lawyer to defend her. She always declared herself innocent and explained that her husband was in constant conflict with his cousins, and it was they who were responsible for killing him. They admitted their crime but accused her of helping them in killing her husband.  

When Amina was first put in prison, her older daughter was only two months old. Once in jail, Amina discovered that she was pregnant with her second child, who the had to live with her in prison. She tried twice to escape, but both attempts were unsuccessful.  

When interviewed about her film, Salami explained that above all her work revolves around one idea: the big and small prison that Yemeni women are locked in. Yemeni society itself acts as a figurative prison for women, according to Salami, for its willful disregard of women’s rights. With her documentary films she tries to address this problem and show women's issues to the responsible bodies that can do something for women. The second prison is the physical prison, in which many women spend their lives, and in this case, became Amina’s home for nine years.

The Sea of Arab Cinema Festival, which started its activities on July 20, showcased submitted films dedicated to retrospectives of Salvatore Bertoluci, Bernardo Samper, Mikel Angelo Antonio and Marco Ferreira, among other film legend.

Related Content

•  An Italian company to build 4 stars hotel to host Gulf Football Cup
•  Chinese donor to provide for building Yemeni national library
•  Mole Oil Company provides aid for flood-affected citizens in Hadramout and al-Maharah
•  YemenSoft launches new version of Onyx-Pro v2.1 software
•  Yemen calls for Arab coordination to deal with financial crisis
•  Egyptian Ambassador opens one of Yemen’s first celebrations of Abstract art
•  CSO issues award winning stat booklet
•  Divers launch first underwater cleanup campaign
•  Suzuki announces launch of new compact Splash in Japan
•  Between art for art and art for society: artist Zeinab Wafi speaks (VI).