Daughters of Bangladesh Garment Factory Workers is a short documentary which follows the personal stories of 5 girls aged between 7 and 15. The film gives an intimate insight into their world, their relationships with their mothers and how factory work shapes their lives. Daughters of Bangladesh is Lensational’s first video journalism project featuring and created by the daughters themselves. This film advocates for corporations to commit to supply chain transparency as well as advancing the welfare of the most vulnerable workers and their families.

Lensational is an award-winning, non-profit social enterprise, with the mission of empowering women through photography and videography. For Daughters of Bangladesh Garment Factory Workers, they have partnered with Rainbow Collective, a documentary producer focused on human, children and social rights, to create a film as a part of an ongoing media training scheme at Nagorik Uddyog, offering children of garment workers a route into further education.

The Q&A discussion following the film will focus on the unheard voices of overlooked women in journalism and how to get these narratives into the public eye. The girls in the film are able to share their personal stories with the world on how garment factory work affects their lives indirectly, reflecting a variety of emotions and capturing moments of intimate visual stories. Our speakers, with a range of journalistic experiences will focus on how best to continue to empower women such as the girls in the film.

Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldp2-a1DG2c&app=desktop

Moderator

Lucile Stengel: Head of Social Media and editor Lensational

Lucile currently works for the BBC World Service, where she dedicates her time to understanding and better servicing the BBC’s audience in developing countries, as well as developing a new impact framework for the organisation. Lucile has a particular interest in the interplay of gender, culture, and the media, an area she has been researching since university. She holds a BSc in Political Science, a MA in Global Communications and Strategy, and a MSc in Local Economic Development from Sciences Po and the LSE. She has developed a repertoire of research and strategy skills in her previous experiences across the media and third sector, and regularly contributes to gender and social justice publications.

Speakers

Richard York is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Rainbow Collective

Alongside their own award-winning broadcast and cinematic documentaries (Al Jazeera, Britdoc, SABC), Rainbow Collective have designed and facilitated projects in countries including Bangladesh, Jamaica, South Africa, Cambodia and Turkey, empowering marginalised children and adults to produce powerful and effective documentaries and animation. The films their students produce have proved equally at home screening at international film festivals as they are at the centre of campaigns for real social change. Since 2008 Rainbow Collective have worked closely with garment working communities and trade unions to improve working and living conditions through films and training projects, including playing a key role in the successful campaign to secure full compensation for the families affected and bereaved by the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh.

 
On Monday 30 March the Frontline Club hosted a screening of A Quiet Inquisition, followed by an insightful discussion with director Alessandra Zeka. Recently previewed at the London edition of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, A Quiet Inquisition has been described by the Huffington Post as a film that “every human rights advocate should see.”

A Quiet Inquisition follows the daily life of OBGYN Doctor Carla Cerrato, as she works at a public hospital in Nicaragua and battles the restrictions of a new law which forbids the termination of any pregnancy, even when a woman’s life is at stake. As pregnant women and young girls turn to the hospital for help, Carla and her colleagues are torn between fears of prosecution and their moral duty as doctors to save lives. Illuminating the deadly implications of this law through human stories, the film reveals the reality of an absolute abortion ban against the backdrop of Nicaragua’s complex political, religious and historical identity.

The documentary was inspired by an article in the New York Times that examined the restrictions of El Salvador’s anti abortion laws. “We actually started the film in El Salvador, but when we arrived there people did not want to talk about the issue,” said Zeka.

Along with co-director Holen Sabrina Kahn, Zeka then turned to Nicaragua, where the change in law had just gone into effect and people were more willing to speak. It was there that they met A Quiet Inquisition’s main protagonist, Dr Carla Cerrato, and the story began to take hold.

“Over the period of time, Carla opened up a lot and it was like following the dots for us,” Zeta said.

Really eye opening night @frontlineclub watching The Quiet Inquisition http://t.co/jdix2KdmUZ watch if you can

— Gina (@CuriousGe) March 30, 2015

Zeka discussed her intent to show the “universe of the doctor,” placing the issue of anti-abortion laws in a broader political and socio-economic context. Poverty, lack of education, and teenage pregnancies are prevalent in Nicaragua, an environment that reinforces the struggles faced by Carla in her daily work.

Zeka spoke of how she wanted to underline these issues from the beginning of the film, particularly by focusing on Dr. Cerato’s work with young girls.

“It was pretty disturbing for me,” she said. “That was one of the hardest things for me to deal with whilst making this film: 12-, 13-year-old girls walking out the hospital with 25 year old men. We met 45 year old guys with 13 year old girls.”

Asked by an audience member if she thinks Carla will get in trouble with the authorities for being so frank in her criticism of the new law and her willingness to break it, Zeka said: ‘We’re hoping and praying that she wont… I spent a lot of time with her and sometimes she’s very excited and gung ho about it and sometimes she’s a little bit afraid.”

The film has so far received an overwhelmingly positive response, and the hope is that Dr. Cerato’s story will continue to have a wider impact.

“We would like things to be different, we would like people to have a conversation about it,” said Zeka.

“We will also show the film to medical students, as there are many who don’t know how to make procedures for medical abortions. Even if we can achieve that, to have more students in Nicaragua to be trained for these cases, we have already achieved something.”

Click here to find out more information about A Quiet Inquisition and upcoming screenings.