When Female Filmmakers Speak

FROM Teheran to Jakarta, then on to a remote corner of Cibinong or Yogyakarta, and from England to Karachi, one finds the same thing. Women have stories which are close to their hearts. This time, the Ninth Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest) presented Persepolis on opening day, the work of the graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi, and Chants of Lotus, the work of four Indonesian women, during the closing ceremony. The women did not only examine such issues as sexual or child exploitation, or issues related to rape or HIV, but also subjects related to war and its victims. Tempo reports on the women who are telling their stories through their films.