“Big Little Women”, the battle of Egyptian girls towards patriarchy | EUROtoday

HASThe International African Diaspora Film Festival (FIFDA)*, from September 6 to eight in Paris, will function for the primary time in France the documentary movie by director Nadia Fares. Under the widespread thread of a tribute to her Egyptian father, the director interweaves private historical past and a chronicle of the situation of girls in Egypt and Switzerland.

Nadia Fares had an Egyptian father. He got here to Switzerland to complete his research and met his mom, who got here from the bourgeoisie. In the late Fifties and early Nineteen Sixties, a blended marriage was very badly perceived. His Swiss grandfather labored within the shadows to have him expelled… She will develop up with out him. This movie, whereas paying tribute to his father, who died in 2014, appears at patriarchy and its penalties, the load of custom with a mirror impact between the East and the West.

“How patriarchy affects women is the theme of the film, but on the other hand, I also wanted a humorous look at patriarchy through my dad, who is a cool patriarch. I drew on my parents' personal story. My father was also a victim of a Swiss patriarch. So I was able to combine a tribute to my father and the fight of women against patriarchy without it becoming artificial,” explains Nadia Fares.

The director follows three generations of girls who defy patriarchal norms in Egypt and Switzerland. She goes again in time, whereas Egyptian girls have been voting since 1956, Swiss girls must wait till 1971. Surprising, isn't it? A speech by Egyptian President Nasser humorously reminds the Muslim Brotherhood that he has no intention of alienating the nation's 10 million girls by making the veil obligatory, whereas the Muslim Brotherhood who requested him to take this measure was unable to impose it on his personal daughter. Alas, the secular ambitions of Nasser's coverage had been rapidly forgotten. Sadat promotes a conservative coverage that regresses the standing of girls, similar to his successors.

Guardian figures

The Nasser years are these of the youth of Nawal El Saadawi (1931-2021), psychiatrist, nice mental and feminist determine of the Arab international locations. She shines on this documentary. Her journey is intertwined with a relentless battle. Through her writings and her activism, she lays the theoretical foundations of the battle towards the constraints imposed on girls by Egyptian society. Nawal El Saadawi is an mental activist. She pays a excessive worth: jail and exile. “It was not easy to convince her,” admits the director. I turned mates with the concierge of her constructing. He would inform me if she was there or touring… Every time I went to Egypt, I went to her home, I rang her doorbell, I attempted to speak to her, I left a letter. This lasted three years. One day, actually determined, I began to cry. A pal stated to me why you might be crying, decide up your telephone, name her. I answered her: she by no means solutions. That day, I referred to as her, she picked up the telephone, she stated sure, sure, come immediately, I’ve time now. We talked for 2 hours, I defined my venture to her, a documentary about three generations of girls. ” For several months, Nadia met Nawal El Saadawi, for half-day shoots. Interviews that allowed us to grasp her extraordinary personality as well as explore the theme of patriarchy and its consequences on women and society.

Throughout the film, the camera follows three young women. Nouran, Noha and Amina crisscross Cairo by bike. They share a light, pragmatic and effective feminism. They start by dodging the “marital profession plan” strongly suggested by their family and society. They dream of being free and independent. They live their feminism by bike, to distribute meals to the most deprived and take advantage of it to engage in discussion with women in poor neighborhoods. Just by arriving by bike, they provoke comments, not always friendly, from men. The bike is not an honorable means of transport for a woman… whose place remains in the home. Discussions begin on the veil, respect for men. So if we wonder what remains of this revolt launched by women, Tahrir Square in 2011, of the Arab Spring, these young women provide their answers. The filmmaker films their questions, the debates within their family and their desire to change mentalities. “Before, you never saw a woman on a bicycle,” says Nadia Fares.

Transmission

A sequence in the documentary shows a discussion between Nawal El Saadawi and these three young women. “It was vital to point out how the values ​​held by girls are transmitted from one era to the subsequent. From my Swiss grandmother to my mom, from my mom to me, from Nawal El Saadawi to the youthful era,” explains the director. Thanks to the examples transmitted, by Nawal's battle, Nadia's testimony, the brand new era of younger Cairenes thinks that they will change a variety of issues.

The movie ends with a pole dance sequence, as a snub to the traditionalist corsets of Egyptian society. Nouran strikes by the air, performing unimaginable acrobatic figures, with the Nile and the town of Cairo within the background. “It was a way to show that we continue to fight for freedom, to decide our lives and to take our courage in both hands. Pole dance is considered a sport, but also an expression of freedom by the younger generation,” concludes Nadia Fares.

The 14th^e International African Diaspora Film Festival will happen from September 6 to eight 2024 within the CGR Lilas and Saint-André des Arts cinemas in Paris. For extra data on movies, showtimes and tickets: www.FIFDA.org