Yapým Tarihi - 2003
Süre - 00:50:00
Format - Uzun Belgesel, Renkli, Türkçe
Yönetmen - Ayfer Ergün
Pakistan’daki Dastak kriz merkezinde bulunan ve aile onurunu lekeledikleri için
ölümle tehdit edilen üç kadýný anlatýyor.
15. Ankara Film Festivali, Belgesel Yarýþmasý, Profesyonel
Kategori, Jüri Özel Ödülü. 2003
Kaynak - Ankara Film Festivali Resmi Web Sitesi
AGAINST MY WILL / TEGEN MIJN WIL
Direction- Ayfer Ergün
Screenplay- Ayfer Ergün
Cinematography- Rob Brouwer, Saskya Jol
Editing- Jan Willem Loose
Sound- Ayfer Ergün
Narration- Ayfer Ergün
Producer- Ayfer Ergün
Video Colour 50' The Netherlands
The number of honour killings in Pakistan has increased during the past years. A woman accused
of infertility or adultery, or a woman who divorces her husband or runs away from home is considered
to have disgraced her family and is often murdered in order for the family’s honour to be avenged. In
many cases, these murders are not reported, but even if they are, the authorities take no action and
turn a blind eye to honour killings. An estimated 1,000 honour killings occur annually. The film focuses
on three women who have are living at the Dastak relief centre, a women’s refuge founded in 1990
by a collective of lawyers offering women free legal aid. At the age of 14, Anita was married off to a
7--year-old man; after seven years of marriage, she decided to run away from home. Razia is a 34-year-old
woman who was set on fire by her husband. Kubra has been abused by her husband and refuses to
return home to him. All three women are threatened with death for violating the family honour.
5. thess
AGAINST MY WILL
(Internationales Forum)
Tegen mijn Will
Niederlande 2002, Beta SP, 50 Min., OmeU
Regie/Director, Drehbuch/Screenplay:
Ayfer Ergün
Kamera/Cinematography- Rob Brouwer, Saskya Jol
Schnitt/Editor- Jan Willem Looze
Produktion/Production- Ayfer Ergün
Weltvertrieb/World Sales- NOS Sales
Sumatralaan 45 1202 JJ Hilversum Niederlande Tel. - +31 35 677 91 11
E-Mail- kaisa. kriek @ omroep.nl
Inhalt
Im Hilfszentrum Dastak in Pakistan finden Frauen Zuflucht, die vor ihren eigenen Familien geflohen sind. Viele
von ihnen sind Missbrauchsopfer oder wurden von ihren Eltern mit einem Mann verheiratet, den sie nicht wollten.
Die Frauen befinden sich in Lebensgefahr, weil eine Scheidung in diesem Teil der pakistanischen Gesellschaft
Schande über die Familie bringt. Eine Frau, die ihren Ehemann verlässt, beschmutzt dadurch die Ehre der Familie.
Sie wird wegen Ehebruchs oder anderer Unterstellungen angeklagt und läuft Gefahr, umgebracht zu werden,
um die Ehre der Familie wieder reinzuwaschen.
Die 28jährige Kubra, von der dieser Film erzählt, war eine solche Frau. Sie wurde misshandelt, floh und fand eine
Zuflucht, ließ sich dann jedoch von ihrer Familie überreden, wieder nach Hause zurückzukehren. Drei Wochen
nach ihrer Rückkehr wurde sie ermordet. Der Täter wird wohl ungestraft davonkommen.
Eine andere Frau war mit einem 70jährigen Mann verheiratet worden, als sie ein Jahr alt war, wieder eine andere
wurde von ihrem Ehemann nach 18 Jahren Ehe verbrannt. Nach dem Tod von Kubra haben die Frauen im Heim
noch mehr Angst bekommen. Obwohl ihnen eine Gruppe von Anwälten Hilfe angeboten hat, können sie
nirgendwo hingehen.
For refugees and fortune hunters Istanbul is the gateway to Europe. For people smugglers, this city is key to
their lucrative trade. In run-down hostels, thousands of illegal immigrants wait to make the crossing. Documentary
maker Ayfer Ergün shows us two of the hostels and their guests- about hundred men in all, mainly Pakistanis. For
some of them it may be the fourth attempt to reach the West. Ayfer Ergün, from Turkey herself, has always been
fascinated by the city of Istanbul- a mosaic of cultures and religions where East and West meet.
Directed by Ayfer Ergün
Produced by Humanist Broadcasting Foundation
First Run/Icarus Films, 2002
Ayfer Ergün’s documentary is one of an increasing number of films addressing
crimes committed against women in the third world. “Against My Will” takes place
in Pakistan, not Saudi Arabia or other Islamic country more commonly associated
with violence against women. It is noteworthy that this film comes at a time
when there are mounting press reports regarding the worsening plight of Afghani
women under the Northen Alliance and the Karazi government, despite the vehement
assertion that women would enjoy more rights after the collapse of the Taliban
regime. This film may surprise some viewers because Pakistan, a nation allied
with the United States in the war on terrorism, has not suffered much in the
public eye as far as social issues are concerned, leading some to believe that
the conditions under which women live there are much better than those in many
other Islamic countries. Ergün’s film casts doubt on such assumptions, for we
are shown women’s suffering in unmistakable images and words.
“Against My Will” is the terrifying and infuriating story of “honor killings” in
Pakistan; women who leave abusive relationships have “disgraced” their families
and are murdered to “restore” their family’s honor. The documentary is dedicated
to Kubra, the film’s central figure, who is betrayed by her family and shot to
death in her sleep.
The documentary takes place for the most part at Dastak, a women’s shelter in
Lahore, northern Pakistan. Founded in 1990 by a lawyers’ collective, Dastak
houses and provides free legal advice for women seeking a safe haven from
abusive relationships. Many of the women living at the shelter were forced to
marry men as many as 50 years their senior, only to be emotionally and
physically abused.
Perhaps even more horrifying is the alienation of these young women from their
families. Despite their cries for help, the families maintain that it would be
shameful and disgraceful for their daughters or sisters to leave their violent
marriages. At one point, one of the women at Dastak says, “They treat daughters
like animals.”
Under the intense emotional pressure of her family, Kubra, who hoped one day to
be a beautician, returns home from the shelter. She is promised no one will hurt
her, that she is safe, and despite being extremely afraid she tearfully relents.
Two weeks later she is shot twice in the head while asleep.
The filmmaker traveled to Kubra’s village and interviewed her family.They were
reticent and guarded at first, and then one man, presumably Kubra’s father,
exclaimed, “A woman who runs to a shelter had something to hide. What she told
you is totally different from what really happened.” According to him, these
women do not tell the truth; they dishonor their family for the sake of their
own pleasure.
What these women are escaping is far worse than the “arguments” Kubra’s father
presumed led to her flight. In addition to frequent beatings, some women are
disfigured, burned. Razia, a ghost-like woman shrouded in scarves (though most
women remove their headscarves inside the shelter) and hidden behind dark
glasses, was locked in a room which her husband and mother-in-law sprayed with
kerosene and incinerated.
As Razia shares her atrocious tale with the filmmaker, a counselor shows her a
mirror and tells her that there is nothing wrong with her face, that once she
accepts her appearance, others will as well. Razia is inconsolable; her scarred,
disfigured face is a physical expression of her suffering, and the depth of her
pain is palpable. Like Razia, many women living in Dastak share their suffering
with the empathetic counselors and the filmmaker. They often seem, despite
everything they have been through, cheerful and warm, cooking together, sewing
in the sun outside, going through the wavelike movements of prayer, sharing
their small beds and sad stories.
A young woman named Anita is visited by her mother; she is one of the few women
(if not the only woman) in the film to have the support of at least one family
member. Her mother assures her that her father will not kill her, that she
should be safe since she has no brothers and “brothers are the most dangerous.”
She admits the village is putting pressure on her father to kill her, and
although he has said he will not, the daughter adds, “he won’t stop my husband
doing it, it’s the same thing.” Anita’s husband even wants her mother to help
him shoot his wife.
Despite their conciliatory hugs and affectionate goodbye, Anita states at the
end of the film, candidly and with eerie honesty, that she “would never dream of
trusting [her] family.”
The film does an excellent job of conveying the horror and humanity of the lives
of these women. They seem smart, articulate, and remarkably composed despite the
fact that they live in fear, with the scars of their abuse and the complete
alienation of their parents, siblings, extended family, and their own children.
Their strength and bravery is remarkable.
While many know that women in Pakistan do not fare much better than in other
Islamic countries, the film does not provide a contextual background about
women’s issues in Pakistan. This would have been useful, especially since
Pakistan is one of two or three countries once headed by a woman prime minister,
Benazir ben Bhutto.
A number of NGOs are working to end the abuse of women in Pakistan. Among these,
the Pakistan Human Rights Organization addresses thousands of cases of honor
killings every year. The film shows a press conference held by the organization
to increase domestic and international awareness of the crimes. “They run away
because of the violence….and because they are married off against their will.
Kubra’s case is just one example of the honor killings that have occurred and
will occur,” said a spokeswoman at the conference. According to the 2000 Human
Rights Commission report, 227 women were killed “in the name of honor” that year.
Mehboob Ahmad Khan, speaker at the commission, tells the story of Kubra’s murder
and repeats the comments of the victim’s family- “She defiled our honor, and
that was unacceptable.”
The combination of footage from the shelter, the legal office and scenes and
interviews from Kubra’s village and family make “Against My Will” a very
powerful statement against “honor killings.” The filmmaker does an excellent job
of using the medium to facilitate and give voice to the message without
overpowering it with her own point of view; such treatment gives the film a
quality that is outspoken and poignant.
The film begins and ends at a grave - possibly Kubra’s - symbolic of the
ultimate finality of this tradition, as well as the only release from suffering
many of these Pakistani women may find.
This essay appeared in Al Jadid Magazine, Vol. 9, Nos. 42/43
aljadid.com/film/honourkillingsinpakistan.html