A Powerful Noise is a new documentary about three different women activists around the globe: Hanh, an HIV-positive widow in Vietnam, Nada, a survivor of the Bosnian war and a community organizer, and Jacqueline, who works in the slums of Bamako, Mali to educate young women. Here's the trailer:
It was visually stunning. The shots of all three locations were exquisite, really bringing you into the full sensory experience of these diverse locations. The work these women are doing were also deeply inspiring. These are not superhero stories in the typical conventions of the genre--women who have done more, better, faster than any other activist. Instead, and thankfully, these are stories of fairly ordinary women with tremendous courage. You don't finish watching the film and think, "I could never be like that." You finish and think, "I could do that if I really drew on my inner resources." In other words, the film pushes you to be more courageous without presenting a paralyzing model of activist or feminist perfection.
My only wish was that each story contained more of an arc. As it was, I was always interested in what these women were doing, but I was never pulled in by a really riveting unsolved question or sense of tension. I think it would have gone a long way in getting film seen, not just by people like me who are interested in women's activism around the world, but people who are interested in good stories. They've certainly got the incredible visuals going for them.
You can now order the DVD from their website, and check out all the great resources there as well.
Thanks to Rosario for the heads up.
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This film was shown in several hundred cinemas across the nation on March 5th - just before International Women's Day. I found out about it via Facebook. After the showing there was a livetown hall moderated by Anne Curry that included former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Bill Kristof, Natalie Portman, the president of Care International, and another person whose name escapes me - she was a supermodel who is now completing a graduate program in Public Health and is a spokesperson on behalf of women's health issues. The town hall was just as interesting and informative as the documentary. If you can find both online, I highly recommend it!