STRENGTH AND RESILIENCE. Julie Bridgham’s The Sari Soldiers
presents Nepal’s civil war through the eyes of six women as they are swept
up by the conflict between the Royal Nepal Army, Maoist rebels, and
pro-democracy activists. (Photos courtesy of Butter Lamp Films)
From The Asian Reporter, V18, #42 (October 21, 2008), page 9.
Inspiring film gives voice to silenced
The Sari Soldiers
Directed by Julie Bridgham
Produced by Julie Bridgham and Ramyata Limbu
Distributed by Women Make Movies
By Marie Lo
Julie Bridgham’s The Sari Soldiers presents Nepal’s civil war
through the eyes of six women as they are swept up by the conflict between
the Royal Nepal Army, Maoist rebels, and pro-democracy activists. "Women are
oppressed by both the government and by society’s view of them," says Kanti,
a Maoist rebel. No more so than during times of war.
The Sari Soldiers powerfully documents the heightened brutality
against women during war and their strength and resilience in fighting back.
Large numbers of women participated in the armed struggle: Forty percent of
the Maoist rebels were female, and the National Army created a women’s
division to fight them.
Shot during a three-year period, the documentary exposes the human-rights
abuses of the 10-year war that left more than 12,000 people dead and 100,000
displaced. In 2005, Nepal had the highest number of recorded disappearances.
In contrast to the ubiquitous images of Nepal — the majestic Himalayas
and Mount Everest — viewers encounter empty courtyards, skeletal bombed-out
buildings, and busy streets packed with protesters. Against this backdrop,
six women from different castes and on opposite sides of the struggle are
followed: Devi, an "untouchable" who speaks out against the rape, torture,
and murder of her niece by the National Army only to have her 15-year old
daughter, Maina, kidnapped as retaliation; Kranti, who joined the Maoists to
fight the oppression of her people, but whose heart breaks every time she
must leave her children to go underground; Krishna, a village leader and
monarchist who successfully leads her fellow women villagers against the
Maoists rebels; Rajani, a cadet in the Royal Nepal Army who joins to serve
in her brother’s stead after he is killed in combat; Mandira, a human-rights
lawyer who helps Devi in her search for justice; and Ram Kumari, a student
political activist who remains defiant despite violent police crackdowns.
What haunts the film is Devi’s daughter, Maina, whose grainy photos
reveal a gentle face and solemn eyes, and it is Devi’s search for her
daughter that propels the film’s narrative trajectory. We see her empty bed.
We watch her father caress a purse she made. Her absence is palpable and
everywhere. Maina’s disappearance becomes representative of the many unnamed
people who disappeared during the civil war. Devi’s refusal to be silenced
is a testament to sacrifice and the transformative power of witnessing and
speaking out.
Often women are shown as simply victims of war and violence. The Sari
Soldiers presents them as active participants in the fight for justice
and human rights. Though these women are on opposite sides of the conflict,
Bridgham’s even hand allows each woman to tell her story on her own terms.
The result is a moving portrait of women during war and their struggles as
mothers, daughters, sisters, and soldiers.
The Sari Soldiers is part of the Northwest Film Center’s Global
Concerns and Human Rights film series. The documentary will screen Thursday,
October 23 at 7:00pm at the Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium at
the Portland Art Museum, located at 1219 S.W. Park Avenue. To learn more,
call (503) 221-1156 or visit <www.nwfilm.org>.
To learn more, visit <www.sarisoldiers.com>.
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