Political science graduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will officially premiere a new short documentary on campus this month spotlighting systemic oppression facing a Pakistani woman. PhD student, Haider Rifaat directed, wrote, narrated and produced In Shackles, which will be screened on Friday, January 24, at 1 p.m. in Hamilton Library, Room 306.
The short documentary chronicles the life of Shamim, a 34-year-old Pakistani woman navigating the harsh realities of a patriarchal society in a village in Islamabad. Her story focuses on forced marriage and sexual violence, which are connected to more complex societal problems facing Pakistanis, including religious hypocrisy, impact of family conditioning on children and the culture of silence surrounding violence.
“The film’s title In Shackles is a metaphor to describe helplessness of a woman experiencing personal and professional problems that are connected to broader, more complex societal issues in Pakistan,” said Rifaat.
At only 29 years, Rifaat, who produced the film under his production label Haider Rifaat (HR) Films, is not only a filmmaker but an accomplished journalist and an actor. Through In Shackles, he critiques Pakistan’s legal system, particularly the Child Marriage Restraint Act, which sets the minimum marriage age for girls at 16.
“Although the short documentary supports women’s rights, it also centers on complex sociopolitical and legalistic problems that prevent women from progressing. Just like the controversial zina (illicit sexual intercourse) ordinances incarcerated female rape victims under Zia ul Haq’s controversial regime, laws surrounding child marriages aren’t accomplishing anything better for girls either. Setting the legal age of marriage for girls to 16 years may give families an opportunity to have their daughters marry without consent, which falls under forced marriage,” Rifaat added.
Rifaat’s film will also be released simultaneously on YouTube under Haider Rifaat (HR) Films following the premiere event.
The premiere is sponsored by the UH Mānoa Department of Asian Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Center for South Asia Studies and Initiate Futures, a policy think tank based in Islamabad, Pakistan.
