Zurich film festivals focus on women and Arabic culture
A scene from 'Lift Like a Girl' by Mayye Zayed. The documentary tells the story of female weightlifters in Alexandria, Egypt. It is being shown at the Arab Film Festival Zurich.
iaffz.com/Mayye Zayed
Two film festivals in Zurich are shining the spotlight on women’s documentary filmmaking and Arab culture: the Women in Film Festival and the Arab Film Festival Zurich.
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Festivais de cinema de Zurique se concentram na mulher e na cultura árabe
The third edition of the Women in Film FestivalExternal link (WIFF), which runs from November 18-20), features documentaries by women about women. These include Be My Voice, the story of women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad’s struggle against the Iranian regime, Mothers and Others about four Latvian women in different stages of pregnancy or Justice In Movement: Reclaiming Our Minds, Bodies, and City, a film about the impact of mass incarceration on women’s bodies and minds.
With Roots and Wings by Fabiola Filippopulos and Do You Remember Me? by Désirée Pomper and Helen Müller, two Swiss productions are in the programme. The latter tells the story of Sara Aduse, who was circumcised as a seven-year-old in Ethiopia. In order to find inner peace, the Zurich-born adolescent seeks out the person who performed the circumcision.
Over three days, a total of 31 short and feature-length films will be shown in 11 themed sessions. The content ranges from sports to domestic violence, music, spirituality, politics and family.
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The sixth Arab Film Festival ZurichExternal link, which runs from November 17-27, highlights Arab cinema and culture. Seventeen feature films and 25 short films will be shown, including the Swiss-Egyptian co-production Big Little Women by Nadia Fares.
The documentary explores the question of whether one can speak lovingly about feminist struggles with an enlightened patriarch. The filmmaker, whose father is Egyptian, explores the effects of patriarchal tradition by mirroring the West and the East.
The supporting programme of the film festival includes panels with filmmakers from Jordan and Lebanon. In addition, a symposium will focus on the work of Saudi women in film and other creative fields. Short films from the film school in Mosul will also be shown. This was founded in 2022 by UNESCO and the Belgian theatre NTGent, where the Swiss director Milo Rau is artistic director.
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