DOCUMENTARY FILMS ABOUT WOMEN:
Women’s Empowerment, Women in the Media
This section of our EMPOWERHOUSE platform presents the documentaries developed by Birgitte Jallov over time, as a part of her ongoing work to highlight women’s lives and contributions while securing increated visibility and giving women, themselves, a voice. The films are presented hereunder in thematic sections, including:
- Women in the Media in Mozambique 2003-2004 →
- Women’s Lives in the Philippines – 1990 →
- Women in Technical Trades in Kenya – 1989 →
- Documentaries filmed in India providing an Indian perspective on Women and Western Aid: Hand in Hand; followed by three documentaries about women tea pickders in Southern India, and the importance of the union to ensure that hey achieve their rights – 1986 →
- Documentaries from the UN Women’s Conference in Nairobi, Kenya – 1985 →
– focusing on African women in the media, using media, and about apartheid South Afria
Women in the Media in Mozambique 2003 -2004
These two documentaries present a glimpse into the reality of women in the media in Mozambique, when the country was finding its feet in the period after the 1992 peace-accord where all progressive forces were working to steer the budding democracy in a healthy direction.
Engagement of more women in the media was one of the areas focused at, and these two documentaries reflect the realities with two different entry points: ‘Listen to the Women’ (2003) portrays six women in the general media landscape, and ‘A Women’s Community’ (2004) shares the early steps of strengthening women in community media. Both of these documentaries present what it takes to change – and challenge – existing social, cultural and gender norms. While ‘Listen to the Women’ is an English version, the ‘A Women’s Community’ is Portuguese.
This Portuguese original of ‘A Women’s Community’ takes you to Mozambique, 2003, where women from the country’s then 42 community radio stations met to share experiences and ways of strengthening women in community media in Mozambique through the creation of a national network.
Read more about the seminar and about women in community media in Mozambique in April 2003.
This documentary covers the issues women in 2003 were faced with when wanting to engage: many were shy and uncertain about the technical and content aspects; others were not allowed by their husbands to work outside of the house. The vivid discussion during the festival is in the documentary intertwined with an interview by one of the radio women with the UNESCO/UNDP project’s manager, Birgitte Jallov, who was the behind-the-scenes initiator of the women’s festival and in the project’s work with community media.
‘Listen to the Women!’ A 2003 documentary about women in the media in Mozambique. The film is partly based on the research report:
In ‘Listen to the Women’ (see box to the right) the 6 women journalists from Mozambique, through their stories show that in 2003 a woman’s place was still considered to be in the home, and that women working in the media were seen to be invading men’s turf. Through personal choices and struggles – only one of the 6 women is still in a relationship – the women interviewed share why they find it so important that a woman’s place is also in the media. (42 Minutes)
Women’s lives in the Philippines: Lisa, Nening and Soling (1990)
“Lisa, Neneng and Soling” a 31 minute documentary by Nina Ellinger and Birgitte Jallov portrays three women: an older woman in the rural areas in Mindanao, a woman in the middle of her life in the slums of the Negros island, and a young factory worker in the city. We learn how they manage through great ingenuity and hard work and how their close-knit communities of women bring strength and resilience. Together the three stories create a picture of the Philippine society in 1990.
Soling is organised in AMIHAN, the National Federation of Peasant Women; Neneng is organised in SAMAKANA, the National Federation of Urban Poor Women; and Lisa is active in KMK, the Organisation of Women Workers. Through the women’s stories, we learn about the importance of organising and working together. (1990. Danish Version)
Women in Technical Trades in Kenya (1989)
A promotional video on getting women into non-traditional trades. Produced for and with Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics in Africa by the International Labour Office. (35 minutes. 1989)
The documentary was a part of a project covering four years, aiming to get more women into technical trades. This was a priority as so many women were single mothers of often a number of children. To provide a good beginning in life for them, it would be important for women to earn a good salary – and technical (and other male) trades was one such area.
The Documentary also included a background study, posters and other promotional materials to be used in secondary schools all over Kenya.
Documentary produced for the ILO by Birgitte Jallov. (English)
Documentaries from India 1986
About Women and Western Aid: Hand in Hand
About organisation of women tea pickers and the role and history of the union
Hand in hand
– on women and Western Aid
In preparation of a 1986 debate on the role and value of Western Aid and Women’s Development with participation by Danida and Danish CSOs, Birgitte Jallov travelled to the Chennai [then Madras] area, carrying out interviews with both groups of beneficiaries of Danida funding in fisher communities the different levels of Danida programme officers.
Questions included urgent issues like ‘who should decide the thematic areas of support’, ‘what is a good and sense-making duration of a development project’, and ‘how do we anchor the projects locally to ensure ownership and sustainability’.
Whereas the immediate beneficiaries and their organisers had no reservations to the organisation of ‘Western Aid’, reflections and answers were many at the level of senior programme managers.
In the resulting candid and thought-evoking conversation with Karuna Anbarasan og Bhavani Visvanathan, we approached the complex issues and the many challenges. The conversation spurred Bhavani in the end directing a question to the Copenhagen-conference, challenging the participants to reflect on: ‘Why do you provide assistance to us?
Bhavani suggested three possible answers: Is itbecause
- you find that you have so much and want to share?
- you are aware that you have plundered our countries so much for the past many years, that you feel you owe it to us?
- or is it maybe to tie us and our contries to yours?
All of this became the starting point of the Copenhagen-based debate with representatives from Danida and the Danish civil society working with local partners in – among others – India.
The video was commissioned and supported by KULU Women and Development, Denmark, and produced by Birgitte Jallov. (1986)
More than mere survival?
– on organising women tea pickers in Southern India
We are in the tea plantations in the Nilgiris Mountains. They are located in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Since 1947, the men have organized themselves in trade unions here.
The more than 30,000 women have been more reluctant, so even though they are the majority, they have not received the support from the union that they so badly need: The days are long, the work is very hard and the pay is low.
Three young union organisers have been employed to support the beginning of a women’s section of the Plantation Workers’ Union. In the project, the assistants work together with the workers to ensure that they know their rights and how to claim them!
When the film was made in 1986, the women plantation workers only had Sunday off – and on weekdays they had to rush home to pick up the children from institutions and schools – and cook – at mid day – and if they returned late, they did not get paid that day.
The houses they live in on the plantation belong to the owner, who is also responsible for establishing schools, nurseries and hospitals. These requirements are rarely met.
When we visited the plantations, we could not get permission to film the places that are not well maintained. And that is most of them. The conditions that we can show here are therefore among the very best.
The film was produced in 1986 with support from the labour unions in the Ribe County by Birgitte Jallov.
P.L.Perumal
– a life decicated to the plantation workers of Southern India
In the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu lie the Nilgiris Mountains, home to some of India’s largest tea plantations. Life on these plantations is challenging, and at the time this documentary was filmed in 1986, plantation owners had only reluctantly accepted the presence of labor unions and the regulations outlined in the Plantation Labour Act of 1951.
In this short film, Perumal tells about the complicated and dangerous work he spearheaded before, during and after India’s liberation from England, and what followed in his and the union’s work help the workers claim their rights.
In 1986 Birgitte Jallov was invited to the Nilgiri Mountains in Coonor, Tamil Nadu, in Southern India to document the work to strengthen women plantation workers.
With the support from Cpt. Perumal and his colleagues, a borrowed VHS camera and a paid air ticket, Birgitte traveled to New Delhi and continued to Madras and on to Conoor in the Nilgiri mountains on 2nd class trains.
Upon return to Denmark she edited the 3 documentaries found here during the nights at a local community TV station in Jutland, Denmark – VHS to VHS. This was followed by a tour of local branches of the supporting unions to share the stories of the extraordinary people and their work.
Jagadambal
– A Tea Picker in the Nilgiri Mountains
Jagadambal, like 30,000 other women, works in the sprawling tea plantations on the slopes of the Nilgiri Mountains. She met the film crew at the union office, as we were unable to secure permission to film where she lives and works.
Jagadambal shares that she is married and has three children. Both she and her husband work on the tea plantation, yet despite being the household’s earners, they struggle to make ends meet. At times, they must skip meals to ensure their children—who are a little frail—receive enough food and the essentials they need
Jagadambal and her husband only attended school up to the 4th grade, and can therefore only read and write simple texts. This is why it is so important to them that their children receive an education and have the opportunity to build better lives. Jagadambal firmly believes that this is the key to improving her family’s circumstances in the long term.
Life on the plantation is grueling, Jagadambal explains. “We have to get up at 5 in the morning to prepare the children for school, and then we head to work ourselves. From 12 to 1, we have a short lunch break, during which we must collect the children, cook food, and get them settled. If we are not back at the plantation by 1 p.m., we are not allowed to enter and will lose our day’s pay. It feels almost impossible to manage everything.”
This struggle is why Jagadambal and her fellow workers are now organizing. “We need shorter working hours, and we carry far too heavy loads. Still, it’s nearly impossible to support our families and ensure our children are healthy and well-fed on these low wages. We plantation workers are doing everything we can to improve our living conditions. Strengthening the union is the only way we can achieve real change.”
Documentaries from the 1985 UN Women’s Conference
2025 we will review the Platform of Action at the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW) in March at the UN in NYC. What are the achievements and which the present challenges emerging?
Women together at Forum '85
Women together at FORUM ’85 / KVINDER SAMMEN på Forum ’85 is a video dokumentary sharing impressions of the NGO FORUM at the Nairobi University in connection with the 1985 UN Women’s Conference. Through interviews with participants from around the world, the 30 minutes gives you an impression of the many activities ongoing. The documentary was prepared for Danish audiences originally, so the speak is in Denmark, but the interviews in English – with one speaker using French. Come join us! (English version forthcoming)
Women will have to reinvent communication!
Six African journalists and media workers address the role of women in the media in their country and use communication to empower woment. They share the challenges and successes in mainstream media, in women’s own, alternative media and when using communication for development. Women in the media are very active but also meet a lot of obstacles. As Eugenie Aw from Senegal said: “We will simply have to reinvent communication – in our own way!”
Filmed 1985 at the lawn of the Nairobi University where much of the Alternative NGO Forum of the 1984 UN Women’s conference took place. Produced by Birgitte Jallov
And through the video women see their reality! Tech'n Tools
Mrs. Sata Dembele Djire from Mali is the Director of ‘Division for the protection of women’ in Mali’s literacy department. She tells in the documentary how they have used video for conscientization and empowerment among the women in the villages.
I met Mrs. Djire at the ‘Tech and Tools’ part of the NGO Forum at the UN women’s conference in Nairobi in 1985. While she was getting the huge pots to boil water prepared on the firewood-saving stove, she was explaining the many ways in which they worked to support women’s heavy work burden. 95% of the women in Mali were illiterate then (1983) and with the daily work load there was little time for learning to read and write. The stove (see the video) was one of the means of Mrs. Djire’s division to create time for women.
In the short documentary we meet other women sharing their appropriate technologies for women’s development and empowerment. Filmed in Nairobi by Birgitte Jallov (English)
Women in Southern Africa:
Isolate South Africa!
(Speak in Danish, interview in English)
Back to…
EMPOWERHOUSE’s Birgitte Jallov has since her academic work on the liberating potential of radio for women: “A counter Image in Sound” (Roskilde University 1982, MA thesis) continued to document her experience and thinking as a ‘reflected practitioner’ in the area of media development, press freedom and communication for development – always with a strong focus on the situation, role and potential of women. Many of her books and articles are included in this overview.
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Birgitte Jallov, EMPOWERHOUSE, is a story teller with a lot to share. Birgitte has done this in writing and through documentary films. While she did all in her early films from preparation, filming to editing and distribution, Birgitte has in her latest films been the initiator, script writer, fund raiser and producer. Birgitte has served on several film jurys in the area of films for development. The list of her main titles is just a click away.