“Four Daughters” Makes History: An Oscar Nomination for Arab Women in Cinema
New
Age Islam News Bureau
26
January 2024
•
“Four Daughters” Makes History: An Oscar Nomination for Arab Women in Cinema
• Defying Repressive Taliban Regime, Afghan Women
Run Digital Magazine with Critical Reporting: Zahra Nader
•
In A First, All-Girl Band From North East Is To Take Part In NCC Republic-Day
Camp
•
UN: Taliban Enforcing Restrictions on Single, Unaccompanied Women
•
War On Gaza: Barbie's Oscars ‘Snub’ Is Used To Shine A Light On Palestinian
Women's Plight
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/four-daughters-oscar-arab-cinema/d/131590
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“Four Daughters” Makes History: An Oscar Nomination
for Arab Women in Cinema
Documentary “Four
Daughters”
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January 25, 2024
The 96th Academy Awards nominations brought a new
milestone for Arab women in cinema, as Tunisian director Kaouther Ben
Hania’sdocu-fiction, “Four Daughters,” starring Egyptian-Tunisian actress Hend Sabry,
has secured a spot in the Best Documentary Feature Film category.
“Four Daughters” delves into the emotional story of
Olfa Hamrouni, a Tunisian mother grappling with the devastating disappearance
of her two eldest daughters, who have allegedly joined the ranks of ISIS. It
tackles the complex themes of radicalization, family dynamics, and the
far-reaching consequences of extremism.
“Four Daughters” garnered widespread critical
acclaim following its world premiere at the prestigious 76th Cannes Film
Festival, where it was a contender for the coveted Palme d’Or.
Ben Hania is no stranger to Academy recognition, but
this marks a historical moment in her career, as she becomes the first Arab
women to secure two Oscar nominations. In 2021, her film “The Man Who Sold His
Skin” earned an Oscar nomination, while her earlier feature “Beauty and the
Dogs” represented Tunisia in the Best Foreign Language Film category in 2017.
In recent years, Palestinian directors Farah Al
Nabulsi “The Present” and Hany Abu Assad (“Paradise Now,” “Omar“) have received
nominations, and Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum“ was also
shortlisted.
Notably, Egyptian-American actor Rami Malek made
history in 2019 as the first person of Arab descent to win the Best Actor
Oscar.
Source: Egyptianstreets.com
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Defying Repressive Taliban Regime, Afghan Women Run
Digital Magazine with Critical Reporting: Zahra Nader
Afghan journalist Zahra
Nader
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26-01-2024
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission
in Afghanistan (UNAMA), women’s rights in the country have been restricted
still more by the Taliban.
In its December 2023 quarterly report, published on
Monday, UNAMA noted that the Taliban has implemented draconian measures against
women who are unmarried or unaccompanied by a male guardian.
It has become even more challenging for women in
Afghanistan to access work, travel, and healthcare. The UNAMA report states
that, in one instance, a woman was advised by the “Ministry for the Propagation
of Virtue” to get married to keep her job at a healthcare facility. The
ministry argued that it was improper for an unmarried woman to work.
These are just a few examples of many, says Zahra
Nader. Nader is a journalist and the founder of the online magazine Zan Times.
She started it in August 2022 to give girls and women in her homeland a voice.
Nader, 34, lives in Canada. When she flew from Kabul
to Toronto to start her PhD in gender studies at York University, the Taliban
were not in power. Under their rule, it would no longer be possible for her to
travel abroad to continue her studies.
Before she left Afghanistan, Nader worked as a
journalist, reporting for the New York Times, among others. Today, she is still
in touch with female colleagues who have either lost their jobs since the
Taliban seized power or even had to flee the country, fearing for their lives.
“For our magazine Zan Times, Afghan women
journalists work both inside and outside the country, reporting in Farsi and
English,” says Nader. “A small group of women journalists in Afghanistan
collects local information. It’s very dangerous for them to work, and they
report on topics the Taliban doesn’t want to hear about: LGBTQ in Afghanistan,
human rights, domestic violence, or child marriage. There’s a lot to report on.
A lot of injustice.”
After they seized power in August 2021, the Taliban
banished women from almost all areas of public life. Girls were banned from
attending school beyond sixth grade. Beauty salons were closed down. In a
decree issued in May 2022, women were advised to wear a full-body burqa that
showed only their eyes. Anyone who dares to leave the house without a full-body
burqa is beaten on the street and taken away.
“Many families see it as deeply shameful if the Taliban
take away a female family member. So many fathers and husbands forbid their
daughters and wives to leave the house,” Zahra Nader explains.
“Critical reporting, and anything that contradicts
Taliban propaganda, is extremely dangerous. Our local colleagues have to be
extremely careful. They write under pseudonyms and only leave the house in
consultation with us. These women don’t know each other and only have contact
with colleagues abroad.”
Nader initially used her own savings to set up the
online magazine. She and her colleagues sometimes also worked without pay.
Almost 18 months later, they now receive scholarships, grants, and donations.
“We want to enlighten people. We advocate for
critical thinking,” says Zahra Nader. “Our readers are mainly women in
Afghanistan, but we also get a lot of hits from other countries where there are
a lot of refugees from Afghanistan.”
Like many of her fellow Afghans, Zahra Nader is
counting on the international community’s solidarity and political support for
women and girls in her homeland. Countries that were involved in Afghanistan
over the past 20 years and that promote a feminist foreign policy should
campaign for women in Afghanistan and their rights, she says.
“I don’t just mean giving speeches or condemning the
Taliban. That doesn’t accomplish anything. The Taliban must see actions. For
example, they should be sanctioned and unable to travel until they change their
misogynistic policies and allow women actively to participate in public life
again.”
Source: Thewire.In
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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In A First, All-Girl Band From North East Is To Take
Part In NCC Republic-Day Camp
Jan 26, 2024
NEW DELHI: A band comprising 45 girls from the North
East is participating in the National Cadet Corps (NCC) Republic Day Camp 2024
for the first time. The girls are in the age group of 13-15, representing the
cultural heritage of the Northeast and showcasing the reach of the NCC to every
nook and corner of the country.
An officer managing the band comprises students from
two northeast schools — one from Kohima and another from Guwahati. Kohima
cadets belong to the 1 Nagaland Girls Bn NCC while Guwahati cadets are from the
1 Assam Bn NCC.
One of the girl cadets from the NE band said, “It is
like a dream come true. We have worked very hard for this. Earlier, our parents
were very worried as we were going out of the Northeast for the first time. But
with time, everything was managed. As it is very cold in Delhi, we are taking
all precautions.”
The band after weeks of dedicated training has been
performing a repertoire of tunes, including patriotic classics like 'Hum Honge
Kamaya', 'KadamKadamBadhaye Ja', ‘Taqat Watan’, ‘Vijay Bharat’, ‘Saare Jahan Se
Achaa’, ‘Aye Watan Aye Watan’ and ‘Jai Ho’ at various events organised during
the month-long NCC camp, which was formally inaugurated by Vice-President
JagdeepDhankhar on January 5.
Source: Timesofindia
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UN: Taliban Enforcing Restrictions on Single,
Unaccompanied Women
January 25, 2024
A report from the United Nations says the Taliban
are putting more and more restrictions on women in Afghanistan.
The Taliban re-took power in Afghanistan after the
United States withdrew from the country in 2021. Taliban leaders said at the
time they would permit women to be more involved in work, school and public
life than during their previous rule, between 1996 and 2001.
In one case, the U.N. notes, the ministry told a
woman to get married if she wanted to continue working at a health clinic. The
ministry said it was not right for an unmarried woman to have a job.
The restrictions follow a pattern of the Taliban
breaking their 2021 promise that life in Afghanistan would be more open to
women. Girls are not permitted to continue going to school after sixth grade,
for example. Places that cut and style women’s hair have been shut down. And
women who are not wearing a hijab, the Islamic head covering, have been
arrested.
In May of 2022, the Taliban said women should go
back to wearing the religious clothing called a burqa. A burqa is a covering
that only shows a woman’s eyes.
There are no official rules about women needing to
be accompanied by a male relative. But the Taliban now say women are not
permitted to travel a certain distance away from their home without a man who
is either their husband or a relative.
The U.N.’s report said three female healthcare
workers were held by police in October when they left home without a guardian.
They were only released when their families signed a document saying it would
not happen again.
In the Paktia province, the Vice and Virtue Ministry
stopped women without guardians from entering health centers starting in
December. The men from the ministry are now entering women’s health centers to
be sure that all women inside are with a male guardian.
The Vice and Virtue Ministry is also known as the
Taliban’s “morality police.” Ministry workers have been going to bus stations,
education centers and other public places to make sure women are following
their rules. They are looking for women who are not wearing head coverings and
stopping buses to make sure women are not traveling without a male family
member.
Zabihullah Mujahid is the spokesman for the Taliban.
In a statement, he said the U.N. report is filled with misunderstandings. He
said the U.N. is ignoring or criticizing Islamic law, known as Shariah.
Mujahid added that the Islamic government in power
in Afghanistan must fully observe “all aspects of Sharia for both men and
women.”
Source: Learningenglish.Voanews.Com
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War on Gaza: Barbie's Oscars ‘snub’ is used to shine
a light on Palestinian women's plight
By Ayah El-Khaldi
25 January 2024
Social media platforms have been flooded with posts
about feminism, patriarchy and intersectionality following the announcement of
the 2024 Oscar nominees on Tuesday.
The Barbie movie, the highest-grossing film of 2023,
was nominated for eight Academy Awards, but director Greta Gerwig and producer
and lead actress Margot Robbie did not make the cut in their individual
categories.
Thousands of disappointed fans took to social media
to say the situation echoed the Barbie movie's plot, where the central characters
grappled with recognition and acceptance amid a patriarchal society.
The snub not only triggered a storm of industry
outrage, it also became a rallying point for many to draw attention to the
gendered impact of Israel’s war on Gaza.
For example, renowned American makeup artist Matt
Bernstein stated: "I loved Barbie and wish it had been nominated for more
Oscars, but on the topic of gender issues: women in Gaza are currently using
tent scraps as period products. I hope we can hold a similar level of outrage
for them."
Others slammed the posts about Gerwig and Robbie as
“peak white feminism” and also highlighted that a woman of colour, America
Ferrera, was nominated for her supporting role in the film.
“We live in a world where ‘women using tents as pads
during genocide’ was less of a feminist issue than ‘white lady pretending to be
doll not considered great actress this year’,” said one user on X, formerly
known as Twitter.
Since the Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian
enclave began on 7 October, the total siege on Gaza has prevented hygiene and
period products from entering the Strip.
UN estimates indicate around 700,000 women and girls
in Gaza lack access to basic hygiene essentials during their menstrual cycles,
including pads, toilet paper, running water and proper toilets.
Reports show that due to this severe scarcity,
Palestinian women in Gaza are resorting to using tent strips as makeshift
sanitary pads and undergoing caesarean procedures without anesthesia.
One user noted: "Last month, Israeli soldiers
in Gaza shot 4 pregnant Palestinian women, then ran over their bodies with
bulldozers. Hillary said nothing and kept opposing a ceasefire."
Social media critics accused Clinton of selective
activism, stating that, despite her being "one of the most powerful women
in the world" she focused her support on "rich, and privileged white
women", neglecting to show sympathy for "thousands of women &
girls killed by Israeli forces".
A report by UN Women on 19 January found that women
and girls in Gaza are dying at “unprecedented levels” and facing “catastrophic
levels of humanitarian need".
Of the more than 25,000 Palestinians killed since 7
October, 70 percent are estimated to be women and children, with two mothers
killed every hour since the beginning of the crisis.
Source: Www.Middleeasteye.Net
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/oscars-snub-barbie-film-ignites-outrage-over-war-gaza
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/four-daughters-oscar-arab-cinema/d/131590