Thank you so much Aloke Devichand from Aljazeera's Witness strand, for sharing with our MyDocs members such insight into three amazing films!
This was a unique opportunity to hear firsthand from Al Jazeera English documentary commissioner, Aloke as he shared unique industry knowledge on the elements that make a great Witness film, and the strand’s work with independent filmmakers around the world.
Aloke also shared three recent short docs from the channel’s flagship character-driven strand, Witness.
The Films:
India's Wushu Warrior Girl
A Muslim schoolgirl fights prejudice and patriarchy with every punch. Muslim schoolgirl Fareeha dreams of becoming a martial arts champion.
Her school started teaching the Chinese martial art, wushu, because of growing concerns about violence against women in India. Now, after qualifying for an Indian national tournament, Fareeha has her goal firmly in sight.
But her mother decides she can't go. While OK with Fareeha learning combat for self-defence, she's strongly against her 14-year-old daughter showing off her moves in public. Witness follows Fareeha as she challenges her family's traditional values to fight not only for the title, but for her independence.
China's Lost and Found Daughters
A generation of children given away under China's controversial one-child policy search for their biological parents. Li Yongguo, a civil servant in eastern China, is on a mission to reunite families forced apart by China's one-child policy.
He holds events for parents and children separated after the mass population control scheme began in the late 1970s, collecting DNA samples to match them.
Cai Fengxia is desperate to meet the parents who gave her away to a foster home in 1979. After searching for 12 years, she turns to Li Yongguo in a final attempt to find them.
Another woman, Li Junfen, has already been matched with her birth family but she's reluctant to meet them. With news that her biological father is extremely sick, Li Yongguo tries to persuade her to seize the opportunity before it's too late.
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