The biggest exploitations we face are of a sexual nature.
He breaks things, beats us, and wreaks havoc…
He sometimes beats us so were hospitalized.
Syrian actresses prepare a space for a theater company in ‘Under the Sky of Damascus’Courtesy of Raed Sandeed
Another woman in the factory recounts that her husband married an additional two women.
He told me that my daughters and I were no more than servants to them…
He sometimes steps on the girls heads with his army boots.
A center for deaf and mute women seen in ‘Under the Sky of Damascus’Courtesy of Raed Sandeed
A young woman was once raped by three men, she says.
The three men knew that she was deaf.
They lured and kidnapped her…
The men were prosecuted, and they admitted that they had sexually assaulted her.
The court ordered the first rapist to marry her to restore her familys honor.
I have been hearing those stories from childhood, she tells Deadline.
Whatdidsurprise her was the willingness of many women to speak openly.
They are really waiting for a stage or a platform to tell about their pain.
Khaled and Derki both reside in Germany now.
Co-director Ali Wajeeh operated on the ground in Damascus, filming those testimonies.
He says he was struck by the affect of women who spoke of what they had endured.
You look into their eyes, you see… a vanishing of the twinkle in their eyes.
You sense that there is no life here, Wajeeh says.
And that was shocking, really shocking for me.
It took some time for the actual reason for Elianas departure to be revealed.
The betrayal by Adel, that was really shocking because we were trusting him, Khaled says.
That was really surprising and shocking when Eliana told me about what happened to her.
I describe it like a crime, Wajeeh says of Adels coercive behavior.
It wasnt to be the only betrayal.
He, as perhaps could be predicted, made the story far more sympathetic to a male perspective.
Khaled believes this is evidence of the degree to which male hegemony affects womens perspectives about their own experience.
Thats why for Farah, for example, she doesnt believe she is a betrayer.
Syria has gone through more than a decade of civil war.
Those men who have the power, they are the winners, politically and militarily, Khaled says.
And this is why they are continuing to abuse the rights of women.
Those men who have no power, they left [Syria].
Those who remain are stronger and have [political] connections…
They have the power that makes them lead the whole society.
The abject treatment of women is by no means limited to Syria.
The documentary is an acquisition title at the Berlinale.
From Berlin it will travel to the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival in Greece in early March.
The voice is the power at this stage.
