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”As a journalist I can serve my country the best”Text: Jaana Heikkilä
Translation: Marika Malmström Photo: Outi Pyhäranta
Mary Ayubi works as a journalist and documentarist, which are both her dream jobs. Her way to fulfil her dreams has not been self-evident, since around twenty years this 26-year-old Afghan woman grew up in the middle of war and oppression. ”During the Taleban regime I lost my right to educate myself and we were forced to leave our home. On top of that my brother was imprisoned,” Auybi says. Only after the Taleban reign collapsed she was able to begin her education. Ayubi started studying medicine at the Kabul University as her mother had wished. However, her studies did not go further than one semester, because of the prevailing corruption and sexual harassment at the university. ”I did not become a doctor - fortunately. As a journalist I can serve my country the best,” she says at the Tampere Film Festival. In her news reports and documentary films Afghanistan Unveiled and The Shadows Ayubi bravely portrays the defects of her home country. Is she not afraid for her own and her family’s safety? ”It is not easy to be a journalist, but I want to show the conditions in Afghanistan and the things that are happening there,” Ayubi says. She also tells that she trusts AINA, a foundation for the development of independent media and cultural expression established in Kabul. Ayubi is one of the first twelve Afghan women who have received the year-long video training in AINA. Particularly Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Unesco and the Goethe-Institut have supported it. A 52 minutes’ long documentary film on the lives of Afghan women was the first big work of AINA’s video reporters. This documentary film Afghanistan Unveiled, finished in 2003, reveils the shock of the camera women, when they encounter the reality of the Taleban regime. ”All the girls were crying. As Kabulians we were not aware of what was going on in other areas,” Ayubi says. ”After the Taleban reign collapsed there have been positive changes: girls can go to school and women can work. I am allowed to wear the clothing I want. I can also travel and go wherever I want to without a male relative coming with me,” Ayubi explains. Is this the same person who has depicted the hardships Afghan women encountered in recent years? This young Kabul-based documentarist admits that things are not as well outside the capital. Religion and traditions still limit women’s rights. The documentary film The Shadows was directed by the British Polly Hyman and Ayubi and it had its beginning in Ayubi’s desire to meet other women around the country and get to the bottom of their destinies. The preparations of The Shadows began in April 2003 when both directors started interviewing Afghan women. A couple of months work helped them choose the topics for the documentary. The main criteria was their will to be able to screen the film in Afghanistan. The directors wished that the documentary would be informative and at the same time would inspire people. The Shadows describes Mary Ayubi’s trips to different parts of Afghanistan. The people she encountered were not always willing to speak to the camera. Nor did the film audience take the documentary the way they had hoped. The Shadows, finished in November 2003, had two screenings in Kabul for a small selected group of people. ”Unfortunately the time is not yet right for the film. People do not want to come face to face with reality,” Ayubi says. Even though Ayubi has dealt with problematic issues of her home country, it bothers her that the foreign media concentrates on the problems in Afghanistan. ”The media always report the unfortunate events, although there are women and men who do good things in my country.” At the end of The Shadows Ayubi is not quite as optimistic as she was in Tampere. She has witnessed how men still keep women in Afghanistan under their sway, and she finds that it is hard to believe things are going to change. ”I have to be patient,” she says and ends her story. Mary Ayubi and Polly Hyman’s documentary film The Shadows is screened in Hällä on Saturday 6th of March at 12 a.m.
Read more |
Festival News, Saturday 6 March 2004•Films may be harmful to children? •Afghan woman's will to film is stronger than fear •Funny habits at cinemas around the world •Where else you can see shortfilms? •Mysterious Mader enjoys odd music Columns
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