@Italiangirl - La storia di Saman Abbas
14th September 2024
h. 16:50
Italian Contest – Feature Film
Brief Synopsis:
“@ italiangirl – La storia di Saman Abbas “, winner of the Best Documentary Project award at Visioni Incontra 2023, tells the tragic story of Saman Abbas, an 18-year-old Pakistani girl killed by her own family for refusing an arranged marriage. The drama represents not only a personal tragedy, but also the reality of many Pakistani girls who, before and after her, have fought and continue to fight for their freedom. Saman’s story shook the municipality of Novellara (Reggio Emilia), a place that until then had been a symbol of integration and peaceful coexistence between foreign communities. Suddenly, it becomes the starting point for a profound exploration of the struggles and dreams of freedom of young Pakistani girls. The testimony of Amina, another young Pakistani woman who has lived through similar experiences, enriches the narrative, offering a touching overview of this reality. The collected speeches, intimate and direct, are interwoven with archive materials that capture the atmosphere of the localities, creating a powerful and engaging narrative that highlights the courageous struggle of young Pakistani women to assert their identity and win their freedom in an often hostile context, amidst silence, fear and oppressive traditions.
Director’s Notes:
We started from Saman’s story to illuminate that of Amina, a young Pakistani woman who went through the same experience. We listened to the voices of various people who were in some way touched by Saman’s tragic story, people for whom there is a before and an after, protagonists whom we followed and got to know outside the interview. The rest of the story will be made up of the archive, which remains the most direct and dramatic contribution and which, one piece at a time, reconstructs this story.