Women of Niger Femmes du Niger

Women of Niger

Femmes du Niger

A film by Anne Laure Folly

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SYNOPSIS

Niger is a traditionally Islamic country where authorized polygamy and Muslim fundamentalism clash with the country’s struggle for democracy. In elections in 1993, men voted by proxy for their different wives and daughters. Women who speak out about their rights have been physically attacked and ex-communicated by the ayatollahs. Working together, women are the most ardent defenders of democracy, which offers the best hope of winning the equal rights which are still denied them. Critical viewing for those interested in women’s human rights and the impact of fundamentalism.

PRESS

“A passionate account of how women in Niger are battling enormous social and religious obstacles to win their democratic rights.”

Moving Pictures Bulletin

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

Montreal African Film Festival, Human Rights Prize

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Anne Laure Folly

Anne-Laure Folly, from Togo, is one of Africa's few female filmmakers, yet one of its finest. After winning the Silver Medal at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in 1994 for her documentary Femmes aux Yeux Ouverts, she established herself as a documentarist with a vision for representing African issues from across the continent: her first film revealed women from Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal speaking about the joys and difficulties of their lives; her latest film "Sarah Maldoror ou La Nostalgie de l'Utopie (1998)" is a tribute to another 'African' female filmmaker, Sarah Maldoror, who attended the Second Cambridge African film festival in 2003 to show her classic film Sambizanga (1972). (09/09)

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