Women and Girls Lead Says: Man Up!

The Man Up Campaign — a global effort activating young women and men to stop violence against women and girls — is presenting a film festival on Saturday, December 3 at 4 PM at Maysles Cinema in New York. The day-long festival will include titles from ITVS's Women and Girls Lead Campaign, including the PBS series Women, War, and Peace.

The Man Up Campaign is dedicated to mobilizing young people and strengthening their in-country programs. The initiative formally launched during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, bringing together a diverse group of up to 100 women and men (ages 18 to 30) from 25 countries. Occurring at the University of Johannesburg, this international forum was the first of its kind to develop capacity and technical expertise among young people of both genders, who are committed to stopping violence against women and girls. Find a complete rundown of Saturday's Man Up Film Festival series schedule after the jump.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

4pm

Thin Ice (Dir. Håkan Berthas, 2006, 57 minutes: produced by WG Films and distributed by Objective Cinema) 

In a rousing sports tale, Dolkar, a young Buddhist woman from Ladakh in the Himalayas seeks to play ice hockey. She and her friends tries to make ice to skate on, get equipment and coaching, yet the larger challenge is the men who don’t think women’s ice hockey is important. When the next year’s tournament is approaching the girls make a new attempt to enter. Finally, when they find the American coach “Deb,” they travel over the mountain to the Muslim village Kargil and create a joint team. As much about the power of sport, Thin Ice creates a bridge between Buddhist and the Muslim women. 

All the Ladies Say (Dir. Ana “Rokafella” Garcia, http://www.fullcirclesoul.com/home.php, 2010,  45 minutes) 

A six-city journey led by Ana “Rokafella” Garcia (veteran female breakdancer B-girl) is a quest  to see how the B-girl scene not only exists but is growing throughout the U.S. despite its absence on the mainstream platform. “Breaking” is a male-dominated dance form yet there are many women who exhibit high levels of dexterity. All the Ladies Say documents how women — young and older — continue to push their dreams and re-create the world of hip-hop. Includes a post-screening discussion with All the Ladies Say director Rokafella. 

6pm 

No Woman No Cry (Dir. Christy Turlington Burns, 2011, 17 min) 

Explore the global issue of maternal and reproductive health care through the lens of model-activist Christy Turlington Burns in her gripping directorial debut. No Woman shares the powerful stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world, including a remote Maasai tribe in Tanzania, a slum in Bangladesh, a post-abortion care ward in Guatemala, and a prenatal clinic in the United States. Women’s Voices Now will showcase 

The Slave, a 74-minute screening of short films exploring violence against Arab and Muslim women, and the empowering people and projects who are currently working to end such violence. 

The films included in the program are: 

The Journey (Bengal, 7min) Viewers join the journey home of seven girls who are survivors of trafficking upon their release from a post-enslavement shelter home. 

Breaking the Silence (Yemen, 12min) chronicles the lives and injustices against the Akhdam women in Yemen. The Akhdam, singular Khadem, meaning “servant” in Arabic, are a social group in Yemen, distinct from the majority by their darker skin and African descent. Although they are Arabic-speaking and practicing Muslims, they are regarded as non-Arabs and designated as a low-caste group, frequently discriminated against and confined to unskilled and menial labor in a society already riddled with patriarchy and poverty, the disdain and discrimination against Akhdam renders these women easy targets of violence and abuse. Akhdam women are subject to hate-based attacks and sexual assaults without any type of legal or social recourse. 

Face (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 5min) records a live performance about the veil as a symbol of a female identity which the artist does not recognize as her own. In cutting the veil, the artist is risking cutting her real face and body. Under the cloth appears a naked body and gender. 

Enchained (Pakistan, 5min) introduces the Bheel and Kohli tribes trapped in modern day slavery in the province of Sind, Pakistan. Sodo is an elder of the Bheel tribe who escaped after two harsh years of slavery and subsequently freed 89 other men, women, and children trapped with the same slave owner. The film exposes the cruel treatment of the slaves, the heavy chains they are held in, and the brutal work they are forced to perform in agriculture, brick factories and stone-crushing queries. 

Post Violence (Iran, 5min) Despite violence against women all around the world, their lives continue, powerful and strong. 

I Accept, I Accept, I Accept (Pakistan, 5min) This experimental art film which has a feel of a documentary is based on a true story from a chapter of a 22-year-old Pakistani girl's personal diary. This film captures the true essence of the protagonist's feelings getting into an arranged marriage. She goes through the traditions that lead to the final day, here she has to say "I accept" three times to get married to a man she hardly knows. 

Behind The Wall (Kyrgyzstan, 27 min) Domestic violence is very real problem that women from Kyrgyzstan and the whole of Central Asia have to face. Often, women cannot expect any help from relatives or the police, since domestic violence is part of local culture and traditions. This film talks about one of the women who became a victim of this tradition. In order to break away from the tyranny of her husband, the woman decides to take extreme measures. She now serves a sentence for murder in a reformatory in Kyrgyzstan, despite the fact that she has three sons, two of whom are underage. This film shows the imperfections of the system and how ignorance can destroy lives. 

Whose Honor? (India, 5min) Khap Panchayats (or caste councils) seem to be condoning honor killings which have been on the rise in some Indian states, including in Haryana. Neha Sehgal and her students from the DAV College of Women in Yamunanagar boldly confront the patriarchal establishment of a village and question whether the same intolerance for love unions would exist, if women were included in the local decision-making process. 

Land of Dragons (India, 3min) The state of Manipur in the north east of India has witnessed 15 years of armed conflict. Today, the people of the state want the government to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives army personnel special privileges that could are misused and result in murder, rape and abuse of the people. 

8pm 

Little Girls Lost (Dir. Andre Lambertson and Lisa Armstrong, 2010, 7min) illuminates the lives of many young girls in Haiti who, since the 2010 earthquake, have turned to prostitution in order to get by. They resort to having sex for food or small amounts of money. This exchange is unwanted but, in their view, the only way to survive. 

Women, War & Peace (Prod. Gini Reticker, Pamela Hogan, Abigail E. Disney, Nina Chaudry, Peter Bull, Johanna Hamilton, Claudia Rizzi, Oriana Zill, Lauren Feeney; 2011, 11min), with depth and complexity, spotlights the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan and Colombia to Liberia, placing women at the center of an urgent dialogue about conflict and security. The project is the most comprehensive global media initiative ever mounted on the roles of women in war and peace, and is a co-production of THIRTEEN and Fork Films. 

The Empire in Africa (Dir. Philippe Diaz, 2006, 87 minutes: produced by Cinema Libre and distributed by Objective Cinema) focuses on the devastating conflict which ravaged the nation of Sierra Leone throughout the 90s. A UN-backed war crimes court was set up to try those, from both sides, who bear the greatest responsibility for the brutalities. It completed its work at the end of 2009. The trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, continues in The Hague. 

*Viewer discretion advised* Post-screening discussion with Sierra Leonean psychologist Adeyinka Akinsulure-Smith and freelance journalist Lisa Armstrong

10:05pm

Very Young Girls (Dir. Nina Alvarez and David Schisgall, 2007, 83 minutes) shines light on commercial sexual exploitation of girls in New York City, through the experiences of those being helped by GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services), an agency founded and run by Rachel Lloyd, herself a survivor.