Tunisia, Arabic - 80 min
Feature Documentary
Total Budget
US $185,000
Confirmed Financing
US $86,020
Contact
machmoum.production@gmail.com
+216 22819081
Tortured and prostituted during her childhood, between the age of six and eight, an 18-year-old girl uses her own past as an example to restore hope for other children in her situation and most importantly for herself.
A five-year journey that encompasses the reconstruction of Siwar's life. Between the ages of six to eight, Siwar was raped, tortured and prostituted by her mother and stepfather. When it was discovered, she was placed into foster care, and her parents were sent to jail for six years. Today, Siwar is 18, and lives with Wassila - an elderly woman of 70, who took her in as her own. They live an isolated life in an apartment with 20 cats. In spite of her horrible past, Siwar will not give up. With the help of Dr. Moez; a pediatrician who is also the leader of an organization fighting for children’s rights in Tunisia, she attempts to bring her case to the justice system by filing lawsuit against her biological mother for human trafficking, amongst other things. But, Tunisia does not have any laws that protect children. It does not even consider children as citizens of the state; they are considered a property of the parents. So, the suits never make it to court.
In the midst of all this, we see Siwar slowly growing and changing. By using her own life as an example, she joins her theater group on tour and helps other children in her situation. Through this, she starts to restore hope for her own future.
Siwar's story touched us deeply, because she awakened a childhood sensibility in us: the memory of our friends who were sad and we did not understand what was happening to them. Today, Siwar is 18-years-old. Siwar still bears the traces of the abuse imposed by her parents on her body as well as serious after-effects that will not allow her to have a social, emotional and sexual life as an ordinary woman. But our film is more than that. Because Siwar is also a force of life that tries to overcome her terrible past and reconcile herself with the world through acting. We want to make this film about Siwar because this girl alone summarizes all the violence committed on the children in the world. We are not making this film to tell the story of this girl's past and make her a victim. We're making this film to restore her dignity while watching her grow and hope.
Our project was selected for the inaugural edition of the industry program of the Movies that Matter Film Festival in Netherlands. An international panel granted us the Doc's up Fund's MTM Award, among eight rough-cuts from eight countries. Movies that Matter Film Festival is a founding and leading member of the Human Rights Film Network, which today brings together more than 40 human rights film festivals from all over the world.
We are particularly interested in the grant of CineGouna SpringBoard because it represents an anchoring of our project in the Arab region and will give much more visibility to our film, in addition to the fact that it can support us to finalize the film. This project is a sign of urgency for us: the consideration of children's rights in Arab societies, especially in the case of sexual abuse, must evolve. We want the film, beyond raising awareness, to have a tangible impact not only in Tunisia and the other countries of the Maghreb and the Middle East, but also in Europe and the USA. We hope that the story of Siwar will not leave you indifferent and that you will want to help us in the making of this ambitious and necessary film.
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