Rebellious women - stories of female activists in Syria: Caabu screening and Q&A
Wednesday 11 November 2015
On 11 November, Caabu hosted a screening of four short documentaries about the role played by female activists in rebel-held areas of Syria. Zaina Erhaim, who directed the documentaries, participated in a question and answer session with attendees, chaired by Caabu’s Director, Chris Doyle.
Zaina explained her motivations in producing these short films. Chief among them, she said, was to shed light on the “different, additional difficulties” faced by women in Syria, including female activists and members of civil society whose stories are often untold or ignored by the media.
Filmed over a period of 18 months, until as recently as this summer, Zaina’s work captures the defiant spirit of its determined female protagonists, who are engaged in a daily struggle against the chaos of war. Food shortages, power outages, medical crises and keeping their community’s children educated are just some of the quotidian challenges these women work to overcome, all against a backdrop of bombings and uncertainty.
Each short film has simply been named after the woman whose story it tells; the first was Ahed, meaning ‘pledge’. Known as the “troublemaker” by her friends, Ahed proudly took part in demonstrations against both the Assad government and more recently, Daesh or Islamic State. Based in Aleppo, the viewers gain some insight into Ahed’s life as a relief worker, helping to organize imports from the suburbs. Despite her struggles, Ahed retains a sense of humour: “I only wanted the Free Syria Army”, she remarks, “and I got the FSA, Nusra Front, and ISIS. We said ‘Syria is for all’. Now we’ve got them all here – everyone joined!”
Ghalia, meaning precious, was the protagonist of the second short. From Idlib province, Ghalia has been a vocal community activist for several years, helping to found a centrte dedicated to the empowerment of women. Based deep underground to protect it from bombings, the centre has provided vocational training to dozens of Syrian women, such as first aid and language skills, and strives to help women achieve financial independence.
The third of the short documentaries followed Zein, who worked as a paramedic in a makeshift hospital in Aleppo. Prior to this she had spent over a year in a government prison, finally being released only to find her home bombed to the ground and her family displaced. “The detention centre is a cemetery for the living” she chillingly describes.
Finally, we were introduced to Waed, who left her family in the relative safety of a government-controlled area and bravely moved to rebel-held areas of Aleppo in order to work on the front lines of the conflict. She soon pursued her work as a citizen journalist and has assumed the impressive title of the “only female citizen journalist in northern Syria”.
Zaina Erhaim was first asked about how she had gone about identifying suitable women to film and whether she had encountered any particular difficulties. Zaina responded that this had in fact been relatively straightforward given that she had already been close friends with these women, although she admitted that it had sometimes been difficult to get in touch with them and make the necessary filming arrangements.
Asked to what extent the women in the films, who espoused strong political positions, felt that their beliefs were represented in the higher echelons of Syrian opposition movements, Zaina felt that although the women were extremely politically engaged, they were sadly not being represented by political figureheads. Zaina said that she had never seen any coverage of such women by western media outlets, who instead seem fixated on the Assad regime and on ISIS in particular.
Zaina spoke of the revolutionary significance of Aleppo in the Syrian conflict as the focal point of the popular uprisings in 2011 and as the city where activists continue to gather and attempt to build various forms of civil society.
The Russian campaign according to Zaina had made the situation on the ground even more dangerous. For instance, whereas regime airstrikes were restricted somewhat by weather conditions, the Russians are able to drop bombs even when it is cloudy.
Caabu would like to once again thank Zaina Erhaim for sharing her films with us and everyone who attended.
Her documentaries were also screened at other venues in London, at the Curzon Bloomsbury and at SOAS. The Observer also had a write up of the documentaries: The Syrian women fighting to save their city.
Caabu was hugely disappointed however, that the visas of two of the women featured in the documentaries were denied by the UK Home Office. You can read our statement here.
