Ethnographic Film Series

Organised by the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Film Committee and SOAS Department of Anthropology and Sociology

9 October Wednesday 1 PM, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS   

Salma

Kim Longinotto, 90 mins, 2013, UK/India

When Salma was 13, her parents took her out of school and locked her away in a room with a single window. After 9 years she gave in to pressure to agree to an arranged marriage and was released from her house arrest into another kind of prison, in the home of her new husband’s family. Throughout her desperate years of confinement, Salma poured out her anguish writing poetry, which she sneaked out of the house, eventually getting a notebook into the hands of an enthusiastic publisher. Against the odds, Salma became one of the best known Tamil poets and her newfound fame helped her start on the path to freedom.

Following Salma on a trip back to her village, renowned British director Kim Longinotto (Divorce Iranian Style, 1998; Sisters in Law, 2005; Rough Aunties, 2008) paints a nuanced portrait of an extraordinary, resilient woman. Salma has hopes for a different life for the next generation of girls, but as she witnesses, familial ties run deep, and change happens very slowly.

2013 Grierson Awards, nominated Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme – International

For further information on the film please contact: RAI Film Officer, Susanne Hammacher, film@therai.org.uk, or Kimberly Chong, SOAS Anthropology Department, kc27@soas.ac.uk

These are public events – all are welcome.