Women's Views on News |
| Film festival: Film Africa 2016 Posted: 28 Oct 2016 01:46 PM PDT
At diverse London venues. And uniquely female perspectives on cross-gender experiences figure strongly in this year's Film Africa programme, including stories of revolution, migration, family and the universal search for belonging. The Revolution Won’t Be Televised, directed by Rama Thiaw. Old men who brutally cling to political power have become a recognised feature of African politics. In 2011, when Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade prepared to fight for office yet again, the people grew tired and a youth resistance movement formed on the streets, spawning the now infamous 'Y'en a marre' ('We Are Fed Up'). Founded by popular rappers Thiat and Kilifeu, director Rama Thiaw joined the movement to document its progress and the sheer hard work that eventually led to Wade's demise. A rousing testament to the power of music to inform and unify. Rama Thiaw was born in 1978 in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and is half Senegalese. A writer, director and producer, she gained a Masters degree in International Economics at the Sorbonne University, before studying cinema at the University of Paris. ‘The Revolution Won't Be Televised‘ is her first feature length film. To see the trailer, click here. Rama Thiaw will attend this, as will Thiat and Kilifeu from Y'en A Marre. Dreamstates, directed by Anisia Uzeyman, has its European premiere at this festival. Equal parts love story, road movie and Americana, Dreamstates tells the haunting tale of two wayward souls (played by musician/poet Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman) discovering their love for one another while touring the U.S. with some of the most pivotal figures of the Afro-Punk movement. Shot entirely on an iPhone, filmmaker Uzeyman's daring debut feature is a sultry, sensual and quixotic underground journey between dreams and reality. Anisia Uzeyman is a Rwandan born actress, playwright and director. She studied at the Superior School of Theater in France and has written and directed four plays and recently starred in the award winning film Tey by Alain Gomis and Guetty Felin's Ayiti mon amour. Dreamstates is her first feature film. To see the trailer, click here. Anisia Uzeyman will attend this event. Shashamane, directed by Giulia Amati, has its UK premiere. Followed by a discussion on the relationship between Africa and its diaspora, exploring issues like identity, politics and reparations. In 1948, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie donated 500 acres of his own private lands "for the black people of the world" to encourage displaced Africans to repatriate. Since the 1960s, many have travelled to Ethiopia to establish the oldest Rastafarian settlement in the world – Shashamane – but now their spiritual home is under threat. Much of the land is lost and many Ethiopians view them as outsiders, leaving these descendants of slaves taken from Africa by force in limbo. A compelling look at the lesser explored migration of the African diaspora back to the continent in search of a lost identity. Italian-French filmmaker, Giulia Amati, has worked as an editor for documentaries and advertising campaigns for more a decade. In 2010 she co-directed the documentary ‘This Is My Land… Hebron’, which won more than twenty international awards. Shashamane is her second feature. To see the trailer, click here. Guilia Amati will attend this event. Asmarina, directed by Alan Maglio with Medhin Paolos also makes its UK premiere at this festival. Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A with director Medhin Paolos, and the screening at Bernie Grant Arts Centre is a dine and view event: Eritrean food is included in the ticket price. The Eritrean/Ethiopian communities have been present in Italy for at least half a century and have been actively integrated into social and cultural life. Collecting memories from the Habesha community in Milan, ‘Asmarina’ is a collective tale which brings to light a postcolonial heritage that has been little scrutinised until now: the everyday stories of those born in Italy, those who have lived there for years, and the refugees who have just arrived. Medhin Paolos is a photographer, director, musician and citizenship rights activist. Asmarina is her directorial debut. Click here to watch the trailer. The Wedding Ring, directed by Rahmatou Keïta. Recently returned to her home in the Sultanate of Zinder after completing her degree abroad, Tiyaa, a young woman suffering from the pain of lost love, finds renewal while awaiting the mystical promise of a new moon. Rahmatou Keïta's second feature slowly reveals itself as a story of female empowerment that also doesn't shirk from the uncomfortable realities of Western influence on African cultures. A magical and immersive journey into the little-explored, and fast-fading, customs of Niger's Sahelian people. Born in Niger, award-winning filmmaker Rahmatou Keïta is a daughter of the Sahel, a descendant of its oldest dynasty, of Sundjata Keïta. After studying philosophy and linguistics in Paris, her first feature doc AL'LÈÈSSI, about the pioneers of African cinema, was selected by the Cannes Film Festival and won Best Documentary Award at Montreal, FIFAI and the Sojourner Truth Award at Cannes. The Wedding Ring is her first fiction film. To watch the trailer, click here. The Royal African Society is a membership organisation that fosters a better understanding of Africa in the UK and throughout the world. Film Africa is the Royal African Society's annual festival celebrating the best contemporary cinema from Africa and its Diaspora is now in its sixth year. For more details about the festival, dates, tickets, venues, click here.  |
| Female apprentices now work for free Posted: 28 Oct 2016 01:19 PM PDT
This year, 28 October marks the day on which young women apprentices effectively start working for free, because of the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap for apprentices is bigger than it is for other women; the equivalent day for women at all levels in full time employment in the UK has been calculated as 10 November. A young woman apprentice working a 35-hour week earns, on average, £8,772.40 a year. A young man working the same hours would earn £10,674 a year. This is an annual difference of £1,874.60. One of the reasons why young women are paid less to undertake apprenticeships is that the sectors they tend to work in – such as administration, health care and retail – are likely to be poorly paid. But the recently-announced government funding for apprenticeships will be focused in STEM sectors, which are male-dominated. This means that, without action to increase women's representation in these sectors, funding will go to men and not to women, increasing the pay gap. Not that choice is the only issue that needs dealing with. Glynn Davies, 26, from Lewisham, started an apprenticeship in construction but didn't complete it. "I wanted to be a bricklayer, so I started an apprenticeship with City and Guilds. I was excited and highly motivated and I couldn't wait to get muddy," she said. "At 17 I was yet to be exposed to society's strong view of gender roles. "From the moment I stepped onto the building site, I was automatically treated differently. "There was a view among the other apprentices that I didn't belong there. There was one other woman, but we were two out of 20 and it quickly became difficult to persevere. "I experienced constant sexist remarks like 'get us a cuppa' or 'be careful, you don't want to break a nail'. "I approached my course coordinator but the general response was, 'it's only banter', or, my favourite, 'don't be so emotional'. "It was irritating and emotionally draining, so I decided it would be more beneficial to terminate my apprenticeship and go straight into the labour market." The Young Women's Trust is campaigning for positive action to drastically increase the number of young women recruited, as apprentices and employees, in to a broader range of sectors and to improve the support they receive so that they have a positive experience and bring their skills and talents particularly to male-dominated areas. "Young women continue to be significantly under-represented in many sectors; less than two per cent of construction apprentices are women and less than four per cent of engineering apprentices. Even in IT & telecoms the figure only rises to 12 per cent," Carole Easton, Chief Executive of the Young Women's Trust, explained. "Positive action is needed to increase women's participation in male-dominated sectors. "Small changes like adapting the language in job adverts to appeal to young women, explicitly welcoming women applicants and removing formal academic entry requirements for apprenticeships can make a big difference. "Without action to encourage more young women into science and engineering apprenticeships, new government funding in these areas is likely to lead to an increase in the gender pay gap."  |
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