Salma

Kim Longinotto : 2013

In villages inhabited by India's Muslim minority in Tamil southern India, as soon as a girl reaches puberty she is locked away until her wedding. When Salma was 13 years old, her family locked her up, forbidding her to study. Hungry for an education, she avoided an arranged marriage for nine long years by keeping herself confined in a bare room. When she finally agrees to wed local politician Malik, she finds herself imprisoned once again – this time in her husband's home where the only things she has to read are the newspapers wrapping the vegetables. She begins covertly composing poems on scraps of paper and, through an intricate system, is able to send them out of the house, eventually getting them into the hands of a publisher. Against the odds, Salma becomes the most famous Tamil poet – the first step to discovering her own freedom and challenging the traditions and code of conduct in her village. She begins to apply for government positions and inspires her sisters and other women also to fight for their freedom and independence. For, she argues, it is the mutual oppression of women by other women that perpetuates the status quo. Kim Longinotto's documentary premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2013. Her film's European premiere screened at Berlin International Film Festival 2013.