(2009) A tradition depicted by the endless rotation of the wheels in which human beings, and here mostly women, follow a predetermined pathway. The loudspeakers as the spokespersons and the guardians of the status quo, loudly and in a commanding tone, express unintelligible sentences.

Women living in the Islamic society of Afghanistan are not content with their situation and lack of freedom. They believe some Islamic laws prevent them from doing the things they want like choosing a spouse, seeking an education and working outside the home.

(2010) The journey toward beauty is a symbol of exploring freedom.

An old fashion thinking of an eastern man made him make bad decisions.

(2008) A young woman in Turkey is forbidden to enter the University because she wears a headscarf. The film questions the concept of “openness” and “closedness". What is “closed/covered”, Merve or the gates that are closed in her face?

(2010) Leila is a single Iranian mother. She works as a welder atop industrial buildings in Iran. Though her profession raises questions in her society, she continues to work hard to provide a better future for her daughter, Sogand.

(2010) In, Bangladesh, garment girls work in sweatshops producing clothing for the world's top brands at less than minimal wages. The garment workers join the garment factories lured by dreams of financial independence but now it is nothing less than slavery. They are made to work for more than 10 hours a day, seven days a week. Many women complain of harassment at the factories, both rude behavior and sexual assaults. In many cases women are attacked when they are returning home after night shifts. There is no insurance and no medical compensation. But the garment factories continue to lure hundreds of thousands of young girls and children each year.

(2010) An Afghan woman lives in a small village in Iran. Her husband was deported back to Afghanistan and she now lives as a single parent.

(2007) Women discuss discrimination against women all around the world.

(2008) Inequality, poverty and injustice affects the lives of women in Tehran: Women who are the mothers, sisters and daughters of the same society.

(2010) This story is about a hard working community of stone crushers in Jaflong, where majority of the workers are young girls and women. More than 5000 women work in this unregulated industry, which hires more women because they can be paid less.

(2008) The Video art "Pink" deals with questions of sexuality and exposure. Israeli Artist Rachel Monosov plays the woman in the film who wears clothing inspired by the traditional headscarf worn by Muslim women, yet in pink – a color that represents femininity and childishness. As the film progresses the woman reveals more and more of herself. In the end she is exposed and suffering from eating the symbolic flower. She is replying to the concept of culture itself.

(2010) Young Afghan girls gain confidence through a local Tae Kwon Do class.

(2010) Ali Abad Rehabilitation Centre is a unique experience. Here, disabled people make artificial limbs for other disabled. Through their struggle to adapt and their life stories, we discover how many Afghan people have suffered from the war and it’s consequences.

(2007) After a husband utters "DIVORCE" three times in a row to his wife the Sharia court decides the marriage is dissolved. The movie shows from Sharia books, the Quran, Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence as to why this law is anti-Islamic.

17-year-olds Camelia and Sarah in the last spring of the 80s....their last days of innocence.

(2008) A radical, Karachi-based theater group (Tehrik-e-Niswan), is storming the streets of Pakistan with its plays on issues such as education, forced marriages and honor killings. Challenging social norms and facing acute opposition, this group, led by a headstrong and rebellious woman, Sheema Kirmani, is focused in its purpose of creating awareness and fighting for women’s equal rights. The documentary showcases the work of this theater group in light of the social and historical framework of Pakistan; assesses its impact on the lives of ordinary women and also highlights the personal struggles of some of the theater actors themselves.

(2009) Fereshteh Zahidi, an Iranian documentary maker, returns to the USA after a hiatus of nine years, to promote her documentary about temporary marriages in Iran. a chance meeting with her ex fiance, David Kaufman, an entertainment lawyer, leads to a dinner at his beach house. The dinner results in a one night stand where Fereshteh is forced to question her identity and choices as a supposedly "emancipated" woman. This chance meeting forces her to reflect on the issues that she is addressing in her work leading to true internal liberation.

(2009) A young Afghan woman's desire to buy sunglasses despite the conflict between traditional Afghan customs and western values.

(2006) A a real-life interview with, Eman, a woman who is living with HIV/AIDS told through a fictional reenactment. She tells her story and conveys her feelings of anger and loneliness because of the stigma that she has to live with.

(2010) A Persian girl sacrifices her education and her youth to take care of her younger brother. Years later, her selflessness does not go unrecognized.

(2009) Seven girls, all survivors of trafficking, are released from a shelter home...

Zahra’s interest in repairing vehicles can be traced to her childhood, when she accompanied her mother who worked a bus driver in Tehran, and later a taxi driver in Karaj. Zahra became especially interested in accompanying her mother when the bus or taxi she drove needed repair. From an early age, Zahra assumed responsibility for minor repairs to her mother’s vehicles, including oil change, wheel inspection, and so on. As she planned her return to this field as a professional, she encountered numerous obstacles which she overcame successfully.

The video chronicles the lives and injustices against the Akhdam women in Yemen. The 'Akhdam' , singular Khadem, meaning "servant" in Arabic, are a social group in Yemen, distinct from the majority by their darker skin and African descent. Although they are Arabic-speaking and practicing Muslims, they are regarded as non-Arabs and designated as a low caste group, frequently discriminated against and confined to unskilled and menial labor. In a society already riddled with patriarchy and poverty, the distain and discrimination against the Akhdam renders Akhdam women easy targets of violence and abuse. Akhdam women are subject to hate-based attacks and sexual assaults without any type of legal or social recourse. This video, produced by Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights and WITNESS, features the stories and voices of three women, Haddah, Qobol, and Om Ali. Their stories of violence, injustice and forced poverty uncover the legacy of discrimination the Akhdam live with and the necessity of urgent action against these atrocities.

(2010) A young Muslim woman recounts her experience converting to Islam and coming out of the closet.

Anisah is an Acehnese woman who was assigned to be the first woman subdistrict head in Plimbang. It is not easy for her since some of the Islamic clerics there reject her assignment in the name of Islamic syariah/law: never assign a woman as a leader.

(2010) Human rights lawyer Lebul Nisa shares the plight of numerous 'half-widows' in Kashmir - women whose husbands have been abducted by the Indian army. According to the law, these women cannot sell their homes until their husbands have been missing for 7 years, which means they have to remain impoverished for this duration as well. Mass graves have now been found, suspected to contain the remains of the missing husbands.

(2005) When a young Turkish girl is raped, the responsibility of restoring her family's lost honor is left in the hands of her younger brother - a thirteen-year-old boy. IN THE MORNING premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, screened at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, and has won nine film festivals including ‘Best Narrative Short’ at the Oscar qualifying Nashville Film Festival. IN THE MORNING screened before members of the U.S. Congress, and later screened before members of UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women).

(2010) You who stone Women. You will burn in Hell. Translation of the Quran quotation read by the director. It is the only part of the film that is not translated: "When news is brought to one of them, of the birth of a female child, his face darkens, and he is filled with inward grief! He hides himself from the people because of the evil of that which is announced to him. Shall he keep it with disgrace or bury it alive in the dust? Ah! what an evil choice they decide on?" Hejer wanted this part to speak by itself through pictures and sounds.

Six profiles of positive female role models from Morocco's rural countryside

(2009) An Afghan woman who has husband and a kid loses her leg in mine explosion. After this incident her husband leaves her and their kid. She has to stand on her feet to continue her life and…

(2010) Sittana is an 83 years old Sudanese female artist used to living a rather unconventional life for a woman of her generation. Her persistence, her creativity and her ability to go against all odds is an inspiration for the people who have opportunity to share some time with her. Sittana tells us her story: How she grew up in the old city of Omdurman, Sudan’s former capital, her father’s influence on her life and the moments where she was close to giving up but managed to get back to her special way of life. We also get an insight into the colorful world of her art, which seems to be an infinite source of positive energy for her and her environment.

(2002) Based on a poem by feminist Urdu poetess Fahmida Riaz the short film exposes the age old cruel customs that oppress and bind women. It is the young generation that finally breaks these bonds so that women can find their true identity and potential.

(2010) Sinta Nuriyah, a first lady on wheelchair, who struggle for woman's rights and marginalized groups. She will never give up being an activist, even though she cannot walk and her husband, former President Abdurrahman Wahid, has passed away.

(2009) A short documentary about the life of a female Afghan singer who wants to participate in the Provincial Council Election in Kabul. The film shows this young Afghan lady thinking out of box in a male dominated society after the fall of Taliban.

(2009) Documents the resistance of Emine Arslan who was fired from the Desa Sefaköy factory and the female workers who were fired from the Düzce factory. All the women who were fired are union members. The documentary reveals the working conditions of women, the experience they gain while organizing, the advantages of resistance, their relationship with the union, their hopes and expectations and the Istanbul Women’s Platform who is in solidarity with them throughout resistance strike.

(2007) An experimental art film which has a feel of a documentary based on a true story from a chapter of a 22 year old Pakistani girl’s personal diary. This film captures the true essence of the protagonist’s feelings getting into an arrange marriage. She goes through the traditions that lead to the final day, here she has to say “I accept” 3 times to get married to a man she hardly knows. The visual diary then unveils what happens next. The voice over is in the present and the visuals are a montage of memories of that chapter.

(2007) Avant/Propos is a dialogue between two territories: the one of dreams and the one of real life, of fiction and of documentary. Through interviews with Tunisian women of different backgrounds, the film explores issues of identity and representation, of tradition and modernity, in order to build bridges between the Western countries and the Arab-Islamic world.

(2010) In this tongue-in-cheek comedy of errors, Menna (Menna Youssef) is the typical young, single, Egyptian-American, Muslim woman getting her Ph.D. in Engineering. Ok, maybe not that typical. Follow Menna and her neighbor Sandy (Iva Mananquil) as Menna’s auntie (Abla Afify) tries to set Menna up with suitor after suitor. Will Menna dodge their advances while trying to find a “normal” life?

(2009) Women and freedom.

(2009) Muslim clothing designers in New York City struggle to combine high fashion with a high sense of piety. Their designs aim to stay true to Islamic principles of feminine modesty while attempting to break into a fashion scene marked more by exposed shoulders than covered hair. In the process these young women designers are redefining what it means to be a modern Muslim in contemporary America

(2009) Lela is a Muslim and she is living with HIV. She is a single mother with 4 children. She was infected with HIV by her former husband who was a drug user. Her health was deteriorating in year 2003. Treatment and medication was beyond her capacity. In 2005, treatment and medication for HIV and AIDS were made free of charge in Malaysia. That was when Lela started receiving treatment. Now, she is healthy. She has a house, a car and living happily with her 4 children. Today, she works for the Malaysian AIDS Council's Treatment, Care & Support Department. She often attends conferences locally and internationally to share about her life living with HIV. Lela hopes her story will inspire others.

(2009) Mrs. Molky is a 73 year old Iranian woman and a widow for 14 years now. She lives alone in a humble house in the small town of Baragun, Iran. Molky wants to travel to Isfahan, with the excuse of visiting some relatives which she had not seen in over 20 years.

(2009) Nubian women in north Sudan plaster their houses in a ceremonial atmosphere. The process starts with the preparation and fermentation of the plastering mixture. Friends and neighbors help while singing and making Henna tattoos similar to those decorations on their houses.

A 14-years-old girl begs for money on the street with her mother. A boy about the same age gives them a coin every day he passes by, pushing his bicycle. Days are passing by, all the same, the call of the mosque scans time. One day the mother dies. The girl now begs alone for money and wears her mother's burka. The young boy passing by this time gives the girl a flower instead of a coin.

(2010) Maria is born with the ability to absorb people's emotions so she tends to people's unwanted emotions at night. One night, a random pedestrian visits her, thinking that she is a prostitute. After convincing the pedestrian to meet 'Maria', Maria absorbs all of her unwanted emotions and learns that she is her estranged mother who abandoned her when she was an infant.

(2006) A woman in chador passionately dances to ancient Persian music. In Iran women are not allowed to dance in public. "It is Written" shows us how it would look like if a woman was allowed to dance. Heravi emphasizes the fate of womankind and the inescapable results of freedom of action.

(2010) The fictional story of a girl in Iran who is facing with masses of "SHOULD NOTs"

A 15-year old disabled girl in Afghanistan has a burning desire to learn. Education is not readily available to her and she faces many challenges before her mother and an aid agency finally arrange for a private teacher to teach her at home.

(2010) A poet, dancer, angel and prisoner converge with community to intervene against racial profiling and hate crimes. Narratives collide with music, poetry and politics to create a complex and layered experience. A collaboration between artist Anida Yoeu Ali and filmmaker Masahiro Sugano. Featured portraits represent real American Muslims in Chicago. All unite as people who refuse to end in violence.

(2010) Capturing the experiences of people directly or indirectly affected by breast cancer and how Qatar has been opening up on this subject.

(2010) Shedding light on the definition of "Family Honor" and how this controversial issue affects the lives of people, especially women, within the Jordanian society.

(2009) Four Afghan women talk about their experiences living through war and oppression, finding independence, and contributing to the rebuilding of their country. Voices of Afghanistan, a video short shot by Heather Metcalfe, Artfully Unforgotten's Founder and Executive Director, during her trip to Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan in June 2009. These stories are made up of glimpses into the lives of Rangila, Dr. Nadjia, Alima and Ferishta, 4 of the Afghan women Heather had the pleasure of meeting while there.

(2010) Despite violence against women all around the word, their life continues powerful and strong.

(2009) Marya Bashir, an Afghan female public prosecutor from Herat province, deals with criminals, Mafia bands and narcotics smugglers. At one point, Bashir's house is blasted by one of the many enemies she makes through her job. Bashir is the first female Afghan-Hindo women's rights activist and she focuses on eliminating violence against women. The film highlights several of Bashir's domestic violence and rape cases in families where the bride is still a child.

(2006) Susan Retik and Patti Quigley, two American women who lost their husbands on September 11th, find a way to overcome their grief by reaching out to other war widows half way across the world. On their journey to Afghanistan, the immediate connection forged between these widows from separate corners of the globe clarifies that “a woman is a woman is a woman” and “a mother is a mother is a mother”. Through the contrasted experience of Susan and Patti’s grief and that of Afghan women, the hardship of life as a widow in Afghanistan is revealed.

Sahar is a young girl and carpet maker. She is 14 years old. She supports her family. She goes to school and work. She also teaches her brothers. She helps her mother. She can manage her carpet factory and says Afghan women are able to work hard.

(2010) Vulvar (bride price) is a form of violence against women & girls which is endorsed in the name of culture and bred in the shadow of marriage in certain tribes of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

(2008) She has no right to speak, her hands are tied, she is like a bird in a cage, but throw this dance she conveys her wish to live and be free, spread her wings , get out of the closed circle and fly…..

(2010) Vandana documents an historic event in the history of Indian democracy, when women marched across the country advocating for the Women's Reservation Bill which has been passed in the Rajya Sabha but not yet in the Lok Sabha. The Bill proposes to reserve 33% of seats for women in national, state, or local governments, which would boost active participation by women in Indian governance.

(2010) Khap Panchayats (or caste councils) seem to be condoning honour killings which have been on the rise in states like Haryana. Would there be the same intolerance of couples marrying those they love in the same clan, if women were included in the decision-making? Neha Sehgal and her students from the DAV College of Women in Yamunanagar boldly confront the patriarchal establishment of a village.

(2010) Manju Khatri is no ordinary woman. She's taken on a male dominated society the only way she knows - driving an autorickshaw in Udaipur. The only female rickshaw driver, she has a faithful following of clientèle, especially among children going to school.

(2010) The state of Manipur in the north east of India has witnessed 15 years of armed conflict. Today, the people of the state want the government to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives army personnel special privileges that could easily be mis-used.

(2008) In the summer of 2006, during the continuous attacks over Lebanon, a young Lebanese artist receives a phone call that makes her want to protect her own space and personal project safe from the outside threats.

(2010) This film is about a few major questions. Why a Muslim women can't have more than one husband while a Muslim man can have up to four wives? Why does it seem so irrational? Iranian men are not willing to be the second husband of a women while on the contrary they expect the same from their wife.

(2010) It is in the intimate and family spaces where some of the darkest secrets are hidden in order to keep the family united. BASITA is my attempt to reconstruct a souvenir of which I have no elements, of which I have only listened a few sentences to one or another member of my family, so the main goal of this piece is to recreate the fact of what we never talk about, the suicide of a young woman, and give her voice once again years later, through my own voice.

(2010) Nusrat, Khezran, Zakia, Asiya and Sajida are five young women from the scenic Shigar Valley in the mountainous northern areas of Pakistan. As interns with the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP), their project is to landscape the Abruzzi secondary school’s garden in the village of Sainkhor, Shigar, Baltistan. Tahereh, their guide and mentor, has come all the way from Los Angeles, California, to teach the women the principles of design and landscaping. In learning these skills to transform a rubble strewn field into a one-of-a-kind teaching garden, these women sow the seeds for their own transformation.

Carpet Drugged explores the effects of narcotic usage by Afghan families. Many villagers have been life-long users of opium and parents drug their children and consume themselves in order to work long hours making carpets.

(2010) "My Name is Pat" is a slice from the life of a young Filipina expatriate struggling to discover her identity.

(2008) The story of the Taliban's ethnic cleansing of the Hazara people in Afghanistan has remained mostly untold. This movie is dedicated to all the Hazara men, women and children living around the world. My purpose for this movie is to tell the world about the Hazara people: their history, their culture, and their suffering…past and present. This movie will be dedicated to raising and maintaining an awareness of the Hazara ethnic group. I intend for this movie to serve as a beacon of hope and a shining light for the future of all Hazaras, especially Hazara women. I also intend for it to serve as a reminder of the history of darkness under which many Hazaras have suffered and died over the last two centuries because of their ethnicity and religion. I hope to educate those who have never heard of the Hazaras and to provide historical and cultural information to those who wish to learn more. My main focus will be to examine Hazara women lives, struggles and oppression. I wish to specifically educate the world about the dual oppression of Hazara women, and their dual identities.

(2010) Crushing Stones represents 3 installations and performances: "CRUSHING STONES” Through photography, body art and live performance, Crushing Stones recreates the emotions, imagery and atmosphere of a “stoning” – contrasting the experience of the subject and the spectators. The exhibition transposes photography and painted models, creating a unique sensory experience while a woman’s voice sets the chilling scene. “VEIL IS OBLIGATORY” This exhibition explores the effect the veil has on how we perceive ourselves and in masking the distinctive traits used to categorize man or woman, young or old, blonde, brown, red, yellow or green. Veil is Obligatory is based on a childhood memory from nearly thirty years ago and incorporates sights, sounds and smells from that era. It is about a journey back home, a rediscovery. The exhibition possesses a lightness and curiosity that are uniquely female and questions the matter of obligation. It explores veiled women, women who reveal their body and women joined by the simplicity of a daily action. The images ask the question - “Do non-respectable body parts exist?” “ETERNITY WOMAN” A journey from black-and-white through full color following the outlines of a female body and the environment in which it exists. Eternity Woman embraces femininity and centers on the hieroglyph of Eternity. This multi-media exhibition features a dance performance interpreting and blending the themes and images presented through a series of photographs.

(2008) Aide et Action has carried out the "Women Literacy Class and Training of Literacy Teachers" project since 2006 in the mountain and minority areas of west China. Ningxia Province is one of the project sites where 1/5 of Muslim population of China live. Ms Ma is a loyal Muslim women and she was the headmaster of a Muslim Girls School. She started teaching literacy over 20 years ago and was awarded many certifications including the “Ten Outstanding Women of Asia” and “The National 5 1 Labor Medal.” Well-reasoned, she became the local backbone for our project. In 2008, Aide et Action filmed “Ms Ma and Her Literacy Class”. Still there are thousands of rural illiterate women with strong desires to read, to write, to see the world, and to turn over a new leaf of their lives. The long literate route is filled with hardship, but we will definitely carry on with our extremely eager to lead rural women.

(2010) Residents of a village in Afghanistan speak out about their addiction to Opium. In particular, the women use opium as a pain reliever and as a sedative for their children. With their husbands away at war, they need their children to sleep in order to do their work.

(2009) Zainab is a 15 year old girl who has been living in a Kabul orphanage since she was 8. Eid-e-fetr is on the way. They are preparing to celebrate it and enjoy their Eid. The film highlights the preparations and life in the orphanage.

Two women waiting for a man...their man.

(2009) Domestic violence is very real problem that women from Kyrgyzstan and the whole of Central Asia have to face nowadays. Often, women cannot expect any help from relatives or the police, since domestic violence is part of local culture and traditions. This film talks about one of those women, who became a victim of this tradition. In order to somehow break away from the tyranny of her husband, this woman decides to take extreme measures and kills her husband. She now serves a sentence for murder in a reformatory in Kyrgyzstan, despite the fact that she has three sons, two of which are underage. This film shows the imperfections of the system and how ignorance of people can destroy lives.

The film ‘Inside Out’ was born out of the angst that even in the 21st century, in a city as liberal and safe as Mumbai, women’s access to public space is limited and largely relegated to the sphere of purposefulness. It is essential that in a cosmopolitan city women are out there, doing a certain kind of work, looking a certain way and almost always existing as consumers in markets or malls, caretakers for children in parks, or office going purposeful women. But what happens when one just wants to be? When one does not look a certain way? When one pursues unconventional roles in the public domain? How thin is the line of acceptable conduct in public for a woman and what happens if one dares to cross it? Can one cross it at all? Can a woman ever access public space as freely and completely as a man, or will she forever be aware of the multiplicity of gazes that are on her, including her own? The film brings out, amongst other things, the experiences of a young muslim girl, who grapples with such notions and talk in a sense, of a universal experience of all women, and addresses what the filmmakers see as a need to just experience the city purposelessly and in doing so, the need to reclaim, or perhaps claim for the first time, an unfettered access to public space.

(2009) What happens when people from different classes and faiths sit across from each other in a taxi and take a journey together? Can this setting provide fertile ground for a rich dialogue about modern terrorism? The Taxi Takes on Terror is based on interactions between taxi drivers and their passengers inside Mumbai cabs after the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks of 2008. The Taxi Takes on Terror consists of several short films. One of them, Women and Islam is about a female taxi driver and the voices of her female passengers. At a time when the 'burkha' is being banned, 'Women and Islam' explores identity, faith and fashion from exchanges in a taxi, in a Nation that houses the third largest Muslim population in the World.

(2007) Rebirth is based on Frough Farokhzad's Tavalodi Digar poem. Frough (1935-1967) is widely recognized for her poetry and activism in Iran. This experimental short film attempts to deal with the challenges of constructing identity for a generation of women which has grown up inside the Islamic Regime, unable to directly experience aspects of freedom that it deserves

Face is a short experimental movie made from a performance. It is about voile as a symbol of a female identity. The person with the completely covered face is trying to cut in pieces this voile of constructed identity which she doesn`t recognize as her own. Cutting it she is risking cutting her real face and body too. Under it appears a naked body and gender. Only word said in the film is "Tagliata" which means "Did You cut yourself".

(2010) Saturday Mothers of Turkey is a short documentary that highlights women in Turkey who are protesting the disappearance of Kurdish detainees.

(2009) "Enchained" introduces the Bheel and Kohli tribes trapped in modern day slavery in the province of Sind Pakistan. The movie describes about eighty nine Bheel tribes who suffered two harsh years in slavery. Sodo is an elderly person of the Bheel tribe who escaped slavery from the hand of slave holder and freed eighty eight other men, women and children who were trapped in slavery. It is all about their cruel treatment, oppressive chains and brutal hard work in the fields of agriculture, brick factory and stone crushing.

(2010) Gulnaz is 11 years old and had her home washed away when flash floods swept down Pakistan's Swat Valley in August. She and her family of six brothers and three sisters now live in a tent camp.

Djamila had to leave home, school and her friends to go with her mother to town to beg for food and money. Their harvest failed completely. Djamila says she doesn't like begging, but she likes pounding millet because that means there is something to eat. The poorest families are facing a food crisis after drought caused their crops to fail and food prices to increase by up to 30% in some areas. Unable to grow or buy enough food to survive, they are now heading to cities and towns in Niger and across the border in Nigeria to find work or to beg to try and ward off hunger.

Baby is born. He has AIDS. Nobody does not accept this child should embrace or touch, all afraid of him.

"The colorless yellow flowers sleep furiously"... The individual words make sense and are arranged according to proper grammatical rules, yet the result is nonsense! Such as many things in our life (esp. with these increasing amounts of social media)... look awesome together, make you feel like you are about to hear or see something important, but if you concentrate a little bit before submitting to the flood, the NONSENSE will punch you right in the face! Our project simply comes as a wake-up call; let's think before getting involved, because it's such a crisis if the nonsense does make sense!

Laila is a neglected teen age girl at home and at school, her life changes upon unexpected friendship between her and an elder garbage man in her neighborhood.

(2009) Iranian born Alysse Stepanian moved to the US shortly after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. This video is based on her early dream journal. “Roghieh” paints a surreal picture of the early stages of the Iranian Revolution, when it empowered the underprivileged, who had a significant role in the overthrow of an elitist regime. A cleaning lady’s broom becomes a weapon symbolizing a new found strength. She jumps into the revolution from the wall-less bedroom of a young girl caught in the middle of great social changes and role reversals.

(2009) A series of four, short, real life stories from Palestine, featuring women who work in male-dominated jobs. All four have the courage to break traditional rules, but not without challenges. We dip into the life of a wedding filmmaker, who films women-only weddings in Hebron; hear the stories of a female taxi driver who works in the Israeli parts of Jerusalem; discover a young, dreamy police trainee at the national police academy and learn about the hardships in Nablus from a mother who takes on male roles to keep her family toilet paper factory going.

In December 2007, over 2,000 Muslim Americans were asked what they would like to say to the world. This is what they said.

Friendship can find its way in the weirdest places..

My documentary is about women living in a refugee camp named, Jalozai Camp in Pakistan. People from tribal regions of Pakistan came in to this camp due to the war in their homeland. My video focuses on women of tribal regions who don't even know how to read and write, but with the help of foreign organizations they are learning many things related to health and hygiene.

My partner Shereena and I did this project about the controversy of wearing the veil in Muslim communities. The veil is the covering of the complete body with the exception to the eyes. Some Muslims believe that women are required to wear it in Islam whereas other believe that it is a choice and not a requirement in Islam. This ambiguity is a result of different interpretations of a Quran verse which is about women covering their bodies. This was a project for Northwestern University in Qatar in my sophomore year.

In a 'French for foreigners' course,a heated debate arises between two Muslim women over the right to wear a veil during class.

In the male dominated society of Iran, Farahnaz Shiri, the first female bus driver in Tehran, has made her own little society in her bus. In Iran there are different sections for men and women on public buses. Women should enter buses from the back door, which is separated from men’s entrance, and should sit or stay in a limited zone at the end of the buses which is separated from men’s zone. But in Mrs. Shiri’s bus everything is vice-versa. She is the governor and the only law maker of her own little society. In her bus, men must enter from the backdoor entrance and must sit or stay in the limited zone at the end of the bus. Mrs. Shiri is struggling to prove herself in this society and resisting a series of injustices that she faces as a woman in the Iranian society.

A Call at Night explores the story of a rape victim in Gaza and how her family and society dealt with her case.