I Am the Revolution
A film by Benedetta Argentieri
A Portrait of Three Women in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq Leading the Fight for Gender Equality
Afghanistan/Syria/Iraq | 2019 | 72 minutes | Color | DVD | English/Arabic/Kurdish/Pashtun | Order No. 191230
SYNOPSIS
I AM THE REVOLUTION is an empowering portrait of three determined women in the Middle East who are leading the fight for gender equality and freedom.
Politician Selay Ghaffar is one of the most wanted people in the world by the Taliban and yet she still travels through Afghanistan to educate other women about their rights. Rojda Felat is a commander of the Syrian Democratic Army, leading 60,000 troops to defeat ISIS, including freeing their hold on Raqqa and rescuing its people. And Yanar Mohammed, named by the BBC as one of 100 most influential women in the world in 2018, pushes for parliamentary reform in Iraq while running shelters for abused women.
Despite battling seemingly overwhelming obstacles, all three women display resilience, bravery and compassion. I AM THE REVOLUTION challenges the images of veiled, silent women in the Middle East and instead reveals the extraordinary strength of women rising up on the front lines to claim their voice and their rights.
PRESS
"One of the Best Documentaries of 2018. Argentieri challenges the world’s view of these women as timid and subservient to show how they’re creating real change from remote villages to city streets."
"In this scenario of war that seems to have no hope of change, instead we discover incredible lives, that never give up, people whose lives and goals are stronger than fear."
The triumph of ‘I Am the Revolution’ is Argentieri’s skill in bringing these distinct routes to feminism together in a way that respects them individually, while still highlighting their interconnectedness."
"What revolution will be harder than the revolution of women? The women Argentieri follows are battling overwhelming obstacles, and yet the film feels uplifting, too - if women can’t do it, who can?"
"Argentieri’s deft camera weaves together both the small everyday life of these remarkable women as well as their more dramatic strides towards gender equality."
SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS
- DOC NYC, World Premiere
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Benedetta Argentieri
Benedetta Argentieri is an independent journalist and director based in New York and I AM THE REVOLUTION is her second film. Since 2014 she has been covering the Iraqi and Syrian war, with several trips on the ground. Her work has appeared in several international publications, including Reuters, The Sunday Times, Quartz, and more. In 2018, she was selected to give a Ted Talk in Milan on “Women in War” and the making of her documentary I AM THE REVOLUTION (2018) by an all-female crew. In 2016, she co-directed Our War, a documentary about foreigners joining the Kurds in Syria to fight the Islamic State (ISIS), and the film was selected at the 73rd Venice Film Festival, in the out of competition section. In 2013, she co-produced Capulcu-Voices from Gezi, a documentary about the revolt that occurred in Gezi Park in Istanbul, Turkey, which won Amnesty International award. She has an MA in Journalism, with a concentration in politics, from Columbia University in New York. Before moving to the United States, Benedetta worked as a staff writer at Corriere della Sera, the Italian leading newspaper. She started her career at Mediaset, a television station in Italy. (4/19)
RELATED LINKS
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Official Website
Learn more about I Am The Revolution on their website
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Facebook Page
Connect with the film on Facebook
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BBC’s 100 Women 2018
Featuring protagonist Yanar Mohammed
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The New Statesman: Feminism in the Wake of ISIS
Article regarding the film and Yanar Mohammed
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Benedetta Argentieri’s Ted Talk on Women in War
Clip from the director's Ted Talk
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Vogue Italia - Interview with Benedetta Argentieri
Interview with the director of I Am the Revolution
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Human Rights Defenders in Iraq
Featuring protagonist including Yanar Mohammed
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Women and Hollywood- Meet Benedetta Argentieri
Interview with the director
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Four Wives – One Man
From Nahid Persson, the filmmaker of the award-winning Prostitution Behind the Veil, comes an intimate portrait of a polygamist family in a rural Iranian village. Persson reveals the intricacies of the relationships between the four wives, their husband, their astoundingly free-spoken mother-in-law and their numerous children. Sometimes humorous and often heartbreaking, this film follows the daily lives of the wives whose situation has turned them into both bitter rivals and co-conspirators against their abusive husband.
Persson’s camera unobtrusively and beautifully captures the range of the family’s interactions – from peaceful, pastoral scenes of a family picnic, to the temporary chaos caused by a broken faucet in the kitchen, to a furtive, whispered conversation between two wives about the latest beating. The women’s work – making bread, weaving carpets, milking and herding the sheep – provide the background to their frank conversations. Avoiding sensationalism and sentimentality, this film provides unique insights into the practice of polygamy and its effect on the women involved.
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