More information
Description
The Film Expanded in cooperation with the Pohoda Festival will organize 15 school events with the documentary film by Lucia Kašová - Orchestra from the Land of Silence. Through the project, the authors want to encourage young people to think about the issues of human rights and freedoms, specifically the current and in schools (in their words) poorly communicated topic of women''s rights. Using the example of the Zohra story, they will introduce students to the difficult situation of young women in Muslim countries in the Middle East. The project has the ambition to provide a different, sensitized optic for refugees and our possibilities of accepting people in need in Slovakia. The Orchestra from the Land of Silence has all the parameters of a strong documentary form. It has a contemporary visual expression and is a combination of an emotional coming of age portrait and an engaged human rights theme that transcends the local context. The members of the first Afghan women''s orchestra in Lucie Kašová''s film are between the ages of 12 and 18, which is the age of release in the country. By issuing them, their rights fall to the level of a pet, they can be beaten, raped, or even killed by a male member of their own family if they damage the family''s honor. We follow Maria - a violin player and through her optics we spend days at the conservatory and in the children''s home, her reality and dreams. The girls are preparing for a concert in Europe. They come to Slovakia, where an unexpected thing happens: four members of the orchestra decide to flee. The situation is very similar to the one we experienced before ’89 in Slovakia. During socialism, ensembles of musicians, actors and athletes almost always returned from abroad in smaller numbers than when they left. "You will defeat the beast with the power of music," reads the logo of the film Orchestra from the Land of Silence. The project will be beneficial for young people, teachers and the public in general.
Summary of project results
The Orchestra from the Land of Silence project sensitively explains to Slovak students the issue of women''s rights in the countries of the Middle East through the story of their peers from the Afghan women''s orchestra Zohra, which was the subject of Lucie Kašová''s documentary called Orchestra from the Land of Silence. An important element of the school events was the opportunity to meet the students with Marzia, the main protagonist of the film, through a video call. The students thus came into direct contact with a young student who is deeply affected by the problems in Afghanistan, which increased the real impact on the thinking of Slovak students about the state of women''s rights in Afghanistan.
The main activities of the project included:
1) Focus group - Online workshop with educators and experts on project topics was focused on consultation and preparation of the online version of the project. It was important to create the most suitable event, discussion topics and discussion participants considering the needs of current high school students.
2) Preparation and production of a methodological plan - the methodological plan serves as a detailed summary of possible activities with students within the project. The methodological plan is especially important at school events, where our lecturer or discussion moderator is not present and the lecture is led by a teacher.
3) Preparation and production of an educational video - The educational video is used for a detailed description of the context of Afghanistan and human rights issues with an emphasis on attractive processing suitable for a high school audience.
4) School events held online - through an online meeting with students, the young student Marzia from Afghanistan could also participate in the discussions. This kind of experience significantly increased the impact of the project and its topics on Slovak students.
5) School events carried out by physical participation in schools - project topics were reflected with the lecturer in an interactive way. Rather than the personal story of the main protagonist of the film, the lecturer and students focused on the cultural and political issues of Afghanistan.