Women's view gets a look at Mexican Embassy film festival

Veeramalla Anjaiah , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 03/08/2008 6:19 PM | World

As part of International Women's Day (IWD) celebrations this year, the Mexican Embassy in Jakarta will screen four films by women filmmakers from Mexico and Indonesia.

"All the films are about women, and their makers are also women," Mexican Ambassador to Indonesia Melba Pria said in Jakarta on Thursday.

The "Through the Eyes of Woman" screenings will feature two films from Mexico and two from Indonesia beginning March 11. Entrance is free.

Ambassador Pria said the screenings would begin Tuesday with "The Faces of the Moon", directed by Mexico's award-winning filmmaker Guita Shyfter, at the Italian Cultural Institute in Jakarta.

The second Mexican film, "Violet Perfume: Nobody Hears You" by Marisa Sistach, will be screened March 17 at the Erasmus Huis auditorium.

From the Indonesian side, Nia Dinata's "Chants of Lotus" and Sekar Ayu Asmara's "Biola Tak Berdawai (Stringless Violin)" will show on March 14 and March 25, respectively, at the Erasmus Huis auditorium.

Pria said that though women in Mexico and Indonesia might be culturally, geographically and ethnically different, they still faced similar problems.

"The women's condition in both countries is the same. They face every day similar kinds of domestic violence, exploitation and atrocities. We want to show to Indonesian audiences a portrait of women in Mexico and Indonesia ... that is the same," Pria said.

IWD is celebrated worldwide, and is a national holiday in countries like Azerbaijan, Vietnam and Bulgaria.

Exactly 100 years ago in 1908, around 15,000 women marched in New York demanding shorter working hours, better pay and voting rights.

This protest led to the launch of the first IWD on March 8, 1911, in Copenhagen.

As part of IWD celebrations this year, 52 countries are staging 589 events under the global theme of "Shaping Progress".

The UN launched its "Investing in Women and Girls" campaign to mark this year's IWD, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon saying "the wellness of women is wellness for everybody".