TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai By Lisa Merton and Alan Dater How does the simple act of planting trees lead to winning the Nobel Peace Prize? Ask Wangari Maathai of Kenya. In 1977, she suggested rural women plant trees to address problems stemming from a degraded environment. Under her leadership, their tree planting grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, defend human rights and promote democracy. And it brought Maathai the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
SHADYA By Danny Hakim, Udi Kalinsky and Roy Westler Shadya Zoabi, a charismatic 17-year-old karate world champion, strives to succeed on her own terms within her traditional Muslim village in northern Israel. Even with her father’s support, she faces the challenge of balancing her dreams with her religious commitments and other’s expectations. SHADYA takes an intimate look at the evolution of a young Israeli Arab woman who has feminist ideas in a male-dominated culture.
SHAYFEEN.COM: We’re Watching You By Leila Menjou and Sherief Elkatsha After 24 years of leadership under President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, Egypt is a nation on the brink of change. However, violence and widespread allegations of fraud accompany the nation’s first democratic elections, in 2005. The film follows three women activists in their quest to expose the truth about Egypt’s new democracy.
WAITING FOR THE REVOLUTION By Rodrigo Vazquez For more than 500 years, the indigenous people of the Andes have endured racism and discrimination. Now, with democracy on their side, the time has come for a change. Following two newly elected indigenous leaders from the campaign trail to their first year in office, filmmaker Rodrigo Vasquez journeys into the heart of the democratic revolution in Bolivia.
the National Endowment for the Arts