Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival looks back at its first edition in 1999, seeking the makers and heroes of two films screened at the 1st TDF, to find out what they did in the two decades that followed. In the context of this anniversary initiative, Fatima Jebli Ouazzani’s documentary In my Father’s House was screened on Thursday March 8 2018 at Pavlos Zannas theater, as part of the 20th TDF, in the presence of the film director.
The film In my Father’s House, which had premiered in the 1st TDF, is about the position of women in Moroccan society seen through the film director’s personal history and her refusing to accept an oppressive marriage, as well as through the story of another woman, Naima, who chose a different path. The film touches upon subjects such as virginity in Islamic tradition, the husband and father dominance and inequality between women and men.
In the discussion with the audience following the screening, the director talked about the experience of watching her film two decades after it was presented for the first time at the festival. She did not hide her frustration at seeing so few things having changed since, as to the role of women in Islamic tradition: “I was hoping that women’s role would change for the better after the Arab Spring, that some steps towards equality would be made. Not only such a thing did not happen, but things got worse in Egypt and Libya. The only Arab country where women and men are equal before the law is Tunisia. In all the other countries, men are women’s ‘patrons’. I understand that traditions are very difficult to change, they stick with girls since early ages. This becomes clear in the film. But the law can and needs to be changed. And I want to be alive when this happens. Besides, that’s the reason why I made this documentary. To help change things.”
The film director also spoke about the difficult relation with her father, which she deals with in the film, noting: “I chose to live my own life because I believe my body belongs to me. It belongs to me, not my husband, not my brother, not any master. But I missed my father. I couldn’t close that door. I had migraines, depression because of that. So I decided to face my demons and move on making the film. You could say that the film was the ‘excuse’ for me to approach my father. Of course, I was determined to make the documentary whether my father would, or would not agree to see me. In case he would not agree, I would show this too in the film”.
In an attempt such as this documentary, dealing with such an experiential, autobiographical material on a sensitive topic which is taboo for some communities, obstacles or difficulties are inevitable. “I wanted to make a film on the tradition of virginity, and of course I did not want to get married following this tradition. But all the stories of my family, either my mother’s or mine when I was a kid and started to figure out what virginity means, had happened in the past. So in order to recount those real facts I needed the actors and the dramatization I used in the film, to visualize the narrative. The story of the young Naima, who we see in the film choosing to follow the virginity tradition and getting married like this, is real and not dramatized. She is still married to her husband and they have two kids. The most difficult was finding a character like hers, who would give me the permission to film her story and marriage. It took me two years to find her”, the film director noted.
Another issue that deeply touches the filmmaker is immigration, since she moved to the Netherlands with her family when she was seven years old, and she lives there ever since. “I’m an immigrant, that’s why I have been able to change my life. I went from Morocco to the Netherlands and it only took a generation for things to change, for a Moroccan woman to be able to leave her home without being married and to make relevant documentaries”, the film director stressed. And added: “I believe EU does not treat Greece and Italy as it should, though these countries are dealing with the biggest immigration problem. Poverty is what makes things explosive and worsens the situation. I can’t say I agree with this, but that’s the way things are. I believe you Greeks must fight, demand a change of things, first from your politicians. The film director concluded: “Coming from Amsterdam, I was hearing Greeks all around the plane. Many Greek families were going home. And I felt I was one of these people who left their country to go to the Netherlands, an immigrant among immigrants”.
The film has never been screened in any Islamic country, but the director hopes that this will change this summer. “In 1998, the film was awarded the National Prize in Casablanca and I found two distributors for its screening in Morocco. But my producer, who had the exclusive rights for distribution, did not want to proceed with this, because he was afraid the copy could be stolen. He had a similar experience in Russia and did not want to lose money. Perhaps this year, after 20 years, I will be able to go to Morocco in summer an organize a screening. I will do everything I can to make that happen”, the film director noted.
