On Tuesday 12 April, the Frontline Club played host to an intimate screening of Syria’s Rebellious Women, followed by a lively discussion between director Zaina Erhaim and Index on Censorship magazine editor Rachael Jolley.

“From my own experience, I tried to research Syrian women from history and I could not find anything,” said Erhaim, who is originally from Idlib in northern Syria. “So when the revolution started I felt we had to capture the work that these women were doing. Because in the future the men will be writing the history and those heroines will be forgotten.”

Adding: “I’m Syrian myself and so I felt it was my duty to do.”

Filmmaker @ZainaErhaim talking about Syria’s incredible ‘Rebellious Women’ at the Frontline Club #IndexAwards2016 pic.twitter.com/1I0EpyRCZh

— Fred Searle (@fsearle91) April 12, 2016

Jolley began the discussion by asking about the obstacles facing women operating as journalists in Syria.

“It’s very difficult,” said Erhaim, who was one of two or three women from her town to study journalism. “It’s connected to open-mindedness, mixing with men and lots of travel which is not accepted in our communities… Now you can imagine that these communities are armed. The masculine powers are now holding arms, so what they do to suppress women is horrible.”

When pushed about feeling any sense of threat or danger, Erhaim conceded her fears about returning to her homeland.

“It is dangerous, anyone who is living inside Syria is expecting to be killed at any moment. I don’t know any who hasn’t at least told their friends about their will. Whenever we gather, the first thing we speak about is did you change your will – are you going to give me your laptop?”

Saw ferociously gifted & brave @ZainaErhaim talk about Syria @frontlineclub last night. Rooting for her at @IndexCensorship awards tonight

— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) April 13, 2016

Erhaim also discussed the plight of young children, for whom the ongoing violence has become normalised. “What freaks me out is how they become peaceful with what’s going on. I was in a park that has now become a cemetery, but it still had a slide and a swing. So kids were still going to play among the tombs and graves.”

“Kids were still going to play among the tombs and graves.”

“I believe we’ll have a crazy generation who will need lots of psychological support,” Erhaim added.

Going on to express her disillusionment at the treatment of Syrian refugees in Europe, Erhaim said: “Outside Syria we’re being treated like potential terrorists. We’re becoming frightening creatures… The foreign jihadis who are mainly from the EU are coming to our lands to occupy them – and we’re the ones treated as potential terrorists.”

The depths of the conflict were noted when Erhaim admitted that she had been unable to maintain contact with loyalist family members. “I have two persons from my family that I haven’t spoken to in six years, even when I went back to the regime area in 2011 I hid myself, fearing that they would inform about me and have me arrested.”

While Syria’s Rebellious Women painted a sombre picture, there was some cause for optimism. Erhaim revealed how her efforts teaching Syrians to become citizen journalists had helped women in providing for their families.

“The beautiful thing about it is now they’re gaining money out of it and supporting their families. For the five women who are constantly publishing on our Damascus Bureau website, all of them are supporting their own families. It’s beautiful.”

Watch the trailer for the film here.

This event will feature screenings of Zaina‘s short films from the series Syria’s Rebellious Women, as well as a Q&A with Zaina who is in London as one of the finalists in the Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards 2016.

Living and working in Aleppo, Syria, Erhaim directed the film series Syria’s Rebellious Women over a period of 18 months to offer a rare insight into the challenges facing women living and working in rebel-held parts of Syria.

Revealing a side of Syria that is often absent from the news, the films tell the individual stories of a diverse group of strong, resilient women. As well as facing the constant threat of bombing, the women must battle the conservative traditions of a male-dominated society and tackle restrictions on their movements, dress and behaviour. Despite disapproval from their families, the women continue undeterred along the paths they have chosen – documenting war, delivering supplies to civilians, and providing medical services.

Zaina Erhaim currently lives and works in Aleppo, Syria. Over the last two years, she has trained over 100 citizen reporters from inside Syria, approximately a third of them women, in print and TV journalism. Erhaim is also the Syria project coordinator for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), an international organisation that support journalists in countries undergoing conflict, crisis, or transition. Many of Erhaim’s students, from all walks of life, have been published in major international news outlets. ​