Camera/Woman (2012) Human RIghts Watch FIlm Festival 2013

Khadija is divorced—she earns her living as a wedding photographer in Morocco. Pressured by her mom and family to remarry, she's torn between their wishes and the fact that she is the breadwinner of the family. She is also torn by what she wants for herself. Over the course of the film what feels she has to do to provide for her family collides with what the family expects for herself.

The film is made up of video shoots intercut with sequences showing Khadija's home life, where long deep discussions occur. Many of the questions that face Khadija are ones that face many women in the world, however, they are complicated by the society in which she lives.

More a slow and deliberate slice of life than a rip-roaring expose, this good little film is bound to suffer in comparison to the rest of the films at Human Right Watch Film festival. Not because it's a bad film, only because it's a film that takes a little bit to connect with the audience. It's a film that gains its strength once Khadija opens up and talks about her life and feelings with her friends. This is a film that rewards an audience with patience.

If there is any (minor) flaw in the film its a sense that while the emotion is real, some of the situations are not. What I mean by that I felt as though the people in the sequence were arranged and then set loose to talk, or walk or do. For me, the film felt more like a well staged drama rather than a document of real life.

The film plays Sunday and Tuesday where it is paired with Going Up the Stairs. Details can be found here.