From the Middle East to the West
When exposed to a more liberal outlook towards women in Canada, the documentary filmmaker decided to divorce her ex-husband due to his proclivity towards domestic abuse, including towards her children. “99.9% of the cases in the documentary” also had a similar fate as per Zouaoui. Speaking of the challenges, the Canada-based journalist says, “It was a very painful process to make the women that I grew up with and around with share their stories. In order for a woman to speak up for herself, they had to ask for their husband / father / brother’s permission.”

Keeping the codes of purdah in mind, Zouaoui deliberately chose an all-women crew and had a smooth shooting process. Zouaoui comments on the Algerian status quo: “There is a lot of nationalistic pride in Algeria due to which there is an attitude of never wanting to share a problem at the international level.” Yet Zouaoui is hopeful about the changing times, “The young generation is bringing in changing times as the rate of divorce has become high. Also as life is very expensive in Algeria, the couples needs two salaries, compelling the women to step out.”