We were quite surprised at the turn out for our screening of Girls in the Muslim World at the Aqaba campus of the prestigious University of Jordan. It was a small group of veiled young women that chose to hardly respond to any of the films in the program. I say this because it is in sharp contrast to the audience we had at the Amman campus of the University. In Amman we had a diverse crowd that were all enrolled in a women’s studies class and couldn’t wait to get a word in about the films. Instead what we found at the Aqaba campus were the faculty engaging with us for the entire time. One professor told us that instead of feminism we should use women’s rights. Feminism is associated with Western feminist ideals, man-haters and anti-family values. It…

Tuesday was our first of two nights screening with the Royal Film Commission in Amman, Jordan.  Under an umbrella of stars and a scenic view of the city, a full house laughed generously during Male and Female, and applauded Spring ’89 and Somaye. On the flipside, we had an exodus of attendees after the showing of Her Man given the film’s portrayal of the taboo subject of homosexuality.

The Royal Film Commission was not opposed to pushing the line with our program Love, Sex and Other Dangerous Pursuits.  For the lively discussion to follow we were joined by Mousa Naffa, Director of the Women’s Empowerment Project at the Queen Zein al Sharaf Institute for…

All is Well in Jordan.

It was the second night’s screening with the Royal Film Commission of Jordan in Amman. Tonight’s discussion was exceptional. We screened a tailored combination of films from The Woman Warrior and The Slave programs. On our panel were Layla Hamarneh the head of Arab Women Organization of Jordan, Abeer Najjar the head of the Jordan Media Institute and professor of journalism at American University Sharjah, as well as Dalia Odeh WVN filmmaker of “Is This Honor?”.  There were many strong comments and questions from the audience in response to Dalia’s film on honor killings in Jordan. Note that Jordan is among the top 5 countries associated with high numbers of honor killings each year according to the United Nations. Among the barrage of questions were: “why are you making such a big deal out of…

The Sharaka Center is a small community resource located in the predominantly Christian governorate of Madaba.  We had an attendance of young and old alike to watch our program The Warrior and The Slave.

The head of the Center told us the people came today because they like to watch movies, something not common in Madeba which does not have a local cinema.  We received strong reactions to Breaking the Silence and warm laughter during Laila and the Garbage Man.

After the 90-minute screening, Layla Hamarneh, Director of Projects for the Arab Woman Organization which is located in several Middle Eastern countries and runs 90 chapters in Jordan alone, urged the audience to express their thoughts about the films they had just watched.  One woman in the front…

The Arab Film Festival Highlights Voices of the Arab Spring

WHAT:
The 15th Annual Arab Film Festival is coming to Los Angeles, October 21st-23rd. Come view a
broad selection of films that tell stories of romance, humor and unrest in the Middle East. Amid
the political upheaval of the Arab Spring, filmmakers explore the issues that sparked the courage
and spirit of a people resolved to fight for their humanity.

WVN will be co-sponsoring Three Veils and The Kingdom of Women.

The Festival opens with Mohamed Amin’s, Egyptian Maidens. Set against the backdrop of an
Egypt on the brink of revolution, Egyptian Maidens, follows two unmarried women as they
navigate the clash between traditional values and their emerging sense of independence, in a
country…

Our seminar at the Jordan University for Science and Technology in Irbid was yet again a new and exciting experience.  The women here were in their 30s and 40s and all master students of nursing, many of whom have been practicing maternal health for many years, as well as professors and directors of health programs.

We presented our Woman Warrior program which our audience connected to as they too are breaking boundaries in their own communities by engaging in unconventional careers instead of the traditional choice of being housewives.  “I am a doctor because I always insisted.”  Said Laila, a director at the School of Nursing.  I did not take no for an answer when my family and friends disagreed with my choice of education and profession.  Now, they are all very proud of me, but it took a long…

Our screening at Hashemite University was in many ways different than the seminar we ran at the University of Jordan.  Hashemite is a much more conservative campus where most students are Jordanian and on average, significantly more religious and more conservative than the those found on the University of Jordan campus. 

We screened Girls In The Muslim World for a room of about 70 students, 15% of whom were male students.  During the first discussion, after playing Laila And The Garbage Man, Niger: Djamila’s Story, and The Path To Follow, there was significant push back from a boy in the back wearing ripped jeans and a loud colored tee shirt.  “I don’t understand what these films have to do with women’s issues.”

…

Suzie and I ran a screening and discussion yesterday afternoon at the University of Jordan.  The event took place in the American Corner of the Language Center and was open to all students.  We screened The Woman Warrior program for a room of 30-35 students, two of whom were male and the rest female.  I was touched to see the entire audience watch with complete attention and audibly react to the films.

Instead of presenting a formal panel, we ran the event as a seminar and opened the discussion with a question addressed to the students:  “What did you think?  How did the films make you feel?”  The answers that followed were inspiring:

About It Is Written the students used words like free, liberated, flying, amazing, and enlightening to describe their thoughts.  One girl said: …

      Last night marked WVN’s first Middle Eastern presence.  We screened the Visceral Experience, a program made up of 12 experimental films, at Makan Art Space in Amman, Jordan.  When first working on our Jordan campaign, our Director of Global Programs Suzie Abdou contacted Samah Hijjawi at the new and progressive space in the art district of Jebel Webdeh.  The gallery was most interested in our experimental films due to their artistic nature and their ability to explore women’s expressions through an alternative vocabulary including animation, performance art and silent film. 

Jordan TV found out about the event through Facebook and made a surprise appearance to interview WVN, Makan and members of our audience for a new cultural program entitled Hamzat Wasil, which was created to reflect the new Jordanian lifestyle and activity…

Dear Friends, Supporters and Filmmakers,

Women’s Voices Now is pleased to announce that this October we will be traveling Women’s Voices from the Muslim World: A Short-Film Festival around Jordan! 

Please join us as we present film screenings, panels of speakers including local experts and filmmakers, and even a DJ/VJ party at our following events:

AMMAN

The Visceral Experience
Date & Time: October 9 @ 7pm
Location: Makan Art Space
Building number 21, Nadim Al-Mallah St.
Jabal Al-Weibdeh, Amman
The Woman Warrior
Date & Time: October 11 @ 11am
Location: University of Jordan, Amman 11942

Love, Sex & Other Dangerous Pursuits
Date & Time: October 18 @ 8pm
Location: Royal Film Commission
1st Circle, Jabal Amman 5 Omar Bin Al Khattab Street
(off…