Hot Docs Dept: The story of two friends is featured in a riveting new documentary called In the Name of the Family , which premiered this week at Hot Docs in Toronto. Its director, Shelley Saywell, is a gifted filmmaker whose work has been acclaimed around the world. Her specialty is venturing into places where others fear to tread – and she found this particular place right here in Canada, in high rise apartment buildings and suburban homes. It is a world where the abuse of teenage girls is all too common, sometimes even fatal. Intense conflict between conservative immigrant fathers and their modern daughters is nothing new. But this kind of violence – often premeditated, and condoned by the community – is driven by a cultural belief that fathers ought to be able to control their daughters. Daughters who act immorally – by talking to boys, or going to the mall, or wearing immodest clothes – bring shame and humiliation onto their entire families. Whatever punishment they suffer is widely thought to be their fault. Two and a half years ago, another Toronto area teenager named Aqsa Parvez was strangled after her father allegedly threatened to kill her for ignoring his wishes. Her father and brother have been charged with her murder. When the second girl discussed this tragedy with her father, he told her, “You kind of girls and girls like her deserve whatever happened to her. ” “This is a lot more prevalent in North America than I had thought,” says Ms. Saywell, who, through her other work, is on familiar terms with the shame and honour culture that is often brutal to women. As
reported in the news.
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@t gifted filmmaker, intense conflict
8.5.10
