Jennifer Lawrence and her partner made a film with footage from Afghan women themselves – “Not much separates us from these countries”
The oppressed women of Afghanistan hope to give a voice to the Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Jennifer Lawrence, who together with her collaborator Justine Ciarrocchi created the documentary “Bread andRoses”, which they also presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
It is an attempt to capture the life and support of Afghan women, whose rights lie in the target of the Taliban who – among other things – have banned them from going to school and parks, as well as working in NGOs. The creator of the documentary, Jennifer Lawrence, told Variety that “everything fell apart within a few days.”
“I was watching this from America at the same time that the legislation was being debated there Roe v. Wade, which was to be overthrown. We felt helpless and frustrated. We were wondering how to get these stories out of the news cycle and into people’s souls. To help them mobilize and take an interest in the plight of these women,” she confided.
Lawrence and Ciarrocchi’s production company initially approached Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani, asking for her assistance in documenting the stories of oppressed women in the country.
So the final product of the film is mostly made up of footage they shot its protagonists themselves, largely attributing their daily lives and realistic challenges within a regime hostile to women. The project did premiere on the Croisette in an emotional atmosphere. In fact, the crews and the director of the production who fled abroad after the Taliban took power, they failed to enter Afghanistan safelyn.
“The director was given footage of women using their mobile phones. There was a trusted cameraman who was used occasionally,” Lawrence explained. As Ciarrocchi revealed, there were big concerns about her protection of Mani, but also for the protagonists themselves who, participating in the production, risked their lives for fear of retaliation by the regime.
“This movie sends a message. Please be the voice of these women who cannot be heard because of the regime,” Mani said at the premiere.
Funding for the film was found easily and almost immediately, since capturing the everyday life and struggle of women in Afghanistan was a satisfactory motivation. “You just want to do whatever you can to change it,” Jennifer Lawrence said.
Lawrence and Ciarrocchi observed that the impact of confinement and the ban on leaving the housefor these women he was huge and this was shown through the shots they took themselves.
“One of our protagonists, Sharifa, had to witness the malaise of her own life. How would a woman who is in the workplace and enjoying her freedom feel, suddenly having to live only inside her home?” Ciarrocchi wondered.
“It makes me think that when I was little I hated going to school. We consider datum that education is a way out for these women. Our female protagonists lost all this and they can’t even leave the house without an escortThe. It’s a right you should have as a human being, to have something to do every day and be productive in society,” said the actress and mother of a daughter.
“Dwe are separated by a lot from these countries“, she added. “Democracy is all we have and it’s slipping backwards. We must keep our eyes on the goal, which is individual freedoms.”
