This week’s film festival, curated by Lisl Ponger, draws from International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women which is held on 25th Nov every year; we present I Am Unbeatable.
Covering a wide range of global gender-based abuse, from FGM practices in Africa to the femicide crisis in Mexico. Each clip is a sobering realisation of how far we still need to go, through awareness, to protest and finally to systemic change.
The week’s trailer comes from the Children of the Setting Sun Productions, a gut-wrenching call to the sisters to make their way home. Floating in a river, the Westshore Canoe Family are passionately paddling, pausing and praying.
“In the canoe, we pray for everyone but ourselves, so that those who need it can hear our prayer” – Coast Salish Tradition.
The pounding drums and long belly cries for the Indeginous women who have been murdered or are still missing make this clip particularly painful. Every now and then the beat quickens and the voices layer, to make the call louder. Yet, the reality is that “there have been approximately 4,000 or more Indigenous murdered or missing women and girls in the last 30 years. That works out to about 133 a year, or three a week.” (The Guardian, 2020).
With a lack of rights, a lack of representatives in law making institutions and systemic racism in Canada and the US, many cases do not get appropriate investigation let alone a conviction, “their crimes fall between jurisdictional cracks, leaving victims and their families without recourse” (Cultural Survival, 2020).
With chilling statics, including “the US Department of Justice found that American Indian Women face murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average”, the prayer song seems like a last resort for those wanting justice for their family.
Tune in for the full Film Festival tonight at 6pm GMT
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