Kresge Library > Events at OU > Annual Women's Studies Film Festival 2005 - Muslim Women, in their Own Words

Women's Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, Oakland University presents the 2005 Annual Women's Studies Film Festival and Seminar: Muslim Women, in their Own Words, February 26, 2005, 10:00 am - 5:30 pm in 156 North Foundation Hall (campus map).

This year's women's studies film festival will present movies by and about Muslim women, as they explore their culture, their heritage, and their interactions with western societies. Under One Sky is a documentary about Muslim women in Canada, some of whom choose to wear the traditional headscarf (hijab) and some of who do not. The movie explores many issues about both Islamic and western attitudes toward women, about western stereotypes of Islamic culture, and about ideological and class distinctions within Islamic societies that are reflected in the decision whether or not to adopt western dress.

Kandahar is the product of a collaboration between Canadian journalist Nelofer Pazira, whose family emigrated from Afghanistan in the 1980s, and Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. It is a fictional story, but based on Pazira's own experiences when she attempted to enter Afghanistan to visit a friend whom she feared was contemplating suicide. Through the eyes of her fictional counterpart Nafas, we join her on a journey of discovery back to her homeland.

Schedule
10:00 -10:30 am	Registration, light breakfast.
10:30 - 11:15 am	Documentary, Under One Sky: Arab Women in North America Talk about the Hijab
11:15 am -12:00 pm	Riffat Hassan, guest speaker on Islamic feminist theology
12:00 - 1:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 - 4:30 pm	Feature film, Kandahar. The movie will be introduced with the short feature Lifting the Veil, a documentary about the making of the film.
4:30 - 5:00 pm	Panelists: Anahid Kulwicki, Firoozeh Dastmalchi, Sumeera Younis, Hoda Abdel-Ady Zodhy.
5:00 - 5:30pm	Coffee and reception

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More about the films*:

Kandahar

• Movie Trailers from: Avatarfilms
• Jones, Kent. Center of the world: for most of us the misery of Afghanistan was an abstraction. Three films made prior to the events of 9/11 show the harsh reality and provide a moral context. Film Comment 38(1) p24(3)
• Klawams, Stuart. Afghan Journals (Jung (War) in the Land of the Mujaheddin, Kandahar). The Nation 273(19) p36
• Chattaway, Peter. Kandahar: Mixing fiction and documentary, a film from Iran explores the Taliban's heart of darkness. Books & Culture 8(1) p9(1)

Related Online Articles/Books:

• Hassan, Riffat. Challenging the stereotypes of fundamentalism: an Islamic feminist perspective. Muslim World 91(1/2) p. 55-69.
• Haddad, Yvonne & Esposito, John. Islam, Gender, & Social Change. New York : Oxford University Press, 1998

Related Articles/Books avaiable at the Kresge Library:

• Shirazi, Faegheh. Veil unveiled : the hijab in modern culture. University Press of Florida, 2001
• El Guindi, Fadwa. Veil : modesty, privacy and resistance. Berg, 1999.
• Haddad, Yvonne & Esposito, John. Islam, Gender, & Social Change. New York : Oxford University Press, 1998

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*Access to some full text resources from off campus is limited to current Oakland students, staff, and faculty.

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Past Festivals: 2004, 2002