As a young Tamil girl in a small village in Southern India, Salma was given to be married at the age of thirteen. She refused, which was a great embarrassment to her father and fiance, who promptly locked her into a small basement room for nine years, when she finally relented due to her mother's declining health. During that time she wrote poetry, which was smuggled out of the village and ultimately published by one of the leading literary journals in India. She became the most popular female Tamil poet. For fifteen years her husband still did not let her out of the house.
The documentary by British filmmaker Kim Longinotto details her life, including her first return to the village after years away. It's a fascinating, moving film and Salma (not her real name) is a mythic character, part Ghandi and part Nelson Mandela.
Both Longinotto and Salma were at our screening and we took the opportunity to talk with them afterwards. Longinotto feels privileged to have known Salma and clearly reveres her. And Salma is a wonderful spirit. Rebecca asked her several questions and they shook hands, with Salma holding hers for some time, smiling, with her warm, brown eyes. It was very touching.
Dirty Wars
This movie must be seen. It is a powerful and disturbing investigation into what has become the leading thrust of our international military strategy--special-forces type quick strikes and assassinations done covertly and with no oversight. It would be good to call this an expose, but it hardly is. At one time, the Joint Special Operations Forces were completely unknown. Since the successful assassination of Osama Bin Laden, they have been lauded as heroes and made the centerpiece of our strategy. Thousands of hits happen all over the world, including countries like Yemen and Somalia, where we are not officially engaged in war. We have even targeted and assassinated American citizens, unabashedly, without a trial.
This type of thing has been happening for over a decade, but Obama has escalated it to a frightening level. We have even hired Somalian warlords to do some of our dirty work. (There is a chilling interview with a Somalian warlord who describes in almost reverential terms how proficient Americans are at war.) Yet few in Washington seem to care. As explained by journalist Jeremy Scahill, whose investigation forms the narrative of the movie, all Washington wants to talk about is how many people are killed--what's the body count. Simply unbelievable.
Beyond a vitally important story, the movie is remarkably well made and one of the most riveting documentaries I can recall. Director Rick Rowley said it was picked up by IFC, which means a likely broad release. Must see.
Now Out on DVD
Two movies now in Redbox that were some of my favorites of the past year, both from Sundance 2012--Searching for Sugarman and Beasts of the Southern Wild. Both highly recommended. Also Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry and Queen of Versailles, which I still haven't seen but are very high on my list.
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