– When I was growing up, I read stories that abortion resistance was the main motivation behind the biggest terrorist bombs in America in the 80s and 90s. I have always been fascinated by why abortion is so politicized in the United States, and what makes people want to bomb abortion clinics. This has been a personal project for me, but suddenly it became extra intimate, says Deeyah Khan (43) to Dagbladet.
The filmmaker and human rights activist launched two films leading up to the US election, which are currently being shown on NRK under the vignette “Deeyah Khan in Trump’s USA”. For 22 months have the former Norwegian-Pakistani artist took his daughter across the great continent – to make one film about hate crime against Muslims and one about abortion resistance.
She believes both issues have become more inflamed since Donald Trump came to power. In the films, Khan meets militia groups with weapons in hand ready to fight against Muslims, and demonstrators both for and against abortion, of which the latter the latter daily attacks those who perform and those who have to have an abortion.
Deeyah Khan
- Born August 7, 1977 in Oslo.
- Norwegian film director, human rights activist, record producer and singer.
- Founder of the film production company Fuuse, and founder and editor of Sister-Hood Magazine which gives voice to various women with a Muslim background.
- UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Artistic Freedom and Creativity.
- Awarded Fritt Ords Pris 2020 for his exercise of artistic freedom of expression through the documentaries about extremism.
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Absolutely terrible
This week, Khan was awarded the Fritt Ord Prize 2020 for his fearless and methodically innovative documentaries about extremism. She has previously won two Emmy Awards and has received a number of other awards for films where she addresses women’s rights and provides insight into the dynamics of violent groups.
Both topics concern her. But this time the theme felt extra personal, when the Muslim filmmaker discovered that the heart of her unborn child had stopped at a 12-week check-up during the last part of the film work – a story she herself has written about in Graziadaily.
– It was completely surreal. I became numb and felt nothing. It took a week before I could have the operation to remove the fetus. Meanwhile, I was carrying a dead child. It is absolutely awful, she says on the phone from London, where the 43-year-old lives.
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Had children with friend
In “The Abortion War”, Khan says that American abortion opponents have killed 11 people employed at abortion clinics since 1993, and been behind 84 serious cases of shooting, bombing and arson of abortion clinics in the last 10 years.
In the documentary, you see protesters standing and shouting “whore” and “killer” after everyone who goes to an abortion clinic in the state of Alabama, a state where politicians want to ban abortion and there are now only three clinics left. Those who visit the clinics are exposed to harassment, regardless of the reason for the visit. The women Khan meets in the film are in difficult situations.
Some can not afford to feed a child, some are very young, some have removed sick fetuses, and one removes a fetus after she has been raped. Everyone is greeted by howling protesters on their way to the abortion clinic. Khan, who himself had to go to hospital to remove his fetus after the miscarriage, felt the issue close to his body.
– Everyone I met at the hospital in England was so kind, but in Alabama I would have been screamed at. It is unheard of for someone to shout at women in such vulnerable situations, she says excitedly.
Deeyah Khan already has 3-year-old daughter Maya, who she received via test tubes with a friend as a donor. This time, the untraditional couple was to become parents again. And they rejoiced.
– I lost a child I really wanted to meet, who I thought would be part of our family. I was sad, but had to return to film editing. I did not have time to focus on myself, I had to finish the film, also for the other women.
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Was scolded
Deeyah Khan has previously, both in the current film about Muslimness and in his previous film about neo-Nazis, able to initiate dialogue with people who actually see multicultural people as her as the enemy. But during the work on the “Abortion War”, she was first subjected to direct harassment.
The film shows angry protesters calling Khan both stupid and evil, in addition to a pedophile-approving Muslim. One also makes statements such as “if we were good Muslims, we would rape you”.
– I have been scolded before, but few do it while the camera is running. These men were also incredibly rude. They screamed at the women all day, talking about raping and fingering babies. I became nauseous and angry, and it boiled completely over for me, she tells Dagbladet.
– I am usually very calm in such situations. But this was very intense, and damn it. I actually thought I was going to hit one of them with the camera.
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But the 43-year-old ruled, and then managed to have a dialogue with the protesters.
– I had to. I was there because I’m interested in finding out why they’re shouting provocations. It’s a kind of shield. People act provocatively to shut others out, and so that no one can approach them, she says and continues:
– It is also interesting that I am insulted for being a Muslim in the film about abortion. I first thought: This should have been in the movie about Muslimness. But it shows that these opinions are connected. It is often the same type of people who are against a lot. They are against women’s rights, against feminism and against Muslims. That is why they are also very much against me. I was a legitimate target for them, Khan reasoned.
Khan, who has had two abortions before, says at the same time that she understands abortion opponents.
– A potential for a life is ended during an abortion, I understand that people are against it. But it is never an easy choice for those who choose abortion. And no one can make that decision for anyone else. Women must be able to decide for themselves about their bodies and their lives.
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I’m an optimist
Khan returned from the United States in September, and has since worked on the completion of his two films. In the future, the filmmaker will try to write a book and be with his daughter. Possibly she will return to the United States to make more films about the great differences in the vast country.
After Donald Trump recently appointed Conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Khan is afraid that the 1973 “Roe v. Wade” ruling, which guarantees American women the right to abortion, is in jeopardy.
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But now that Joe Biden has won the presidential election, she hopes it will be easier for the vulnerable groups she has met in her two films.
– I think it will be a little easier for minorities. But one of the biggest challenges Biden has is to reunite the country, and include everyone, including the poor whites who think Trump is the only one who thinks of them. The United States has many socio-economic problems, and many are struggling. Biden and Harris must show Trump supporters that the cause of their problems is a system that is not working, not the blacks or the immigrants. If they do not succeed, but continue with the same policy where they only talk to those they like, there will be another and worse hardcore populist, a Trump 0.2. Then we are in real trouble, says Khan, but adds that she is still optimistic about the development in the USA.
– My hope is the young people. Young people do not care about gender, sexuality or skin color. They are in front of us, we just must not destroy the world before they take over.
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