The Sari Soldiers Julie Bridgham, USA, 2008, 92 minutes
Friday, May 14 | 6:30pm | Pacific Cinémathèque
Julie Bridgham’s film was shot over three of the most tumultuous years in Nepalese history. King Gyanendra’s decision to dissolve parliament and seize power was met with fierce opposition, and as the country was riven by civil war, ordinary families were caught in between. Anyone criticizing government action could be disappeared and never seen again.
When a woman named Devi Sunuwar spoke out about government brutality, the army kidnapped her daughter Marin, in lieu of Devi herself. For more than three years, Devi tries to discover her daughter’s fate, helped along by fierce lawyer and human rights activist Mandira. “We have to speak, and speaking about justice is not a crime,” says Mandira.
In the rural areas of Nepal, Maoist rebels recruited female soldiers and the Royal Army soon followed suit. In the urban centre, Ram Kumari, a young student protester demonstrates in the street. “We had democracy and it was stolen,” she says. “There can be no compromise.”
Whether they’re leading protests against government corruption or trying to uncover the truth behind a vanished child, each of the women in The Sari Soldiers faces incredibly difficult choices and decisions. The film does not stint on the complexity of the political situation, which can almost be bewildering at times, but beneath the banner of Maoist guerilla, government soldier, or student activist, these are individual women trying hard to make moral decisions and fight for what they believe in.
“Bridgham’s inspiring, infuriating, and sometimes hard-to-watch film underscores the old but still noteworthy point that the female body is one of the great casualties of war and political strife; the fact that both the Royal Army and the Maoists employ huge numbers of female soldiers to wage their battles adds irony, but not always real equality, to the situation.”
— The Village Voice
Nestor Almendros Prize, Human Rights Watch International Festival
Director’s biography
Julie Bridgham is a Sundance Institute Documentary Fellow. Over the past six years, she has lived for extended periods in Nepal producing and directing numerous documentaries including Indentured Daughters, a documentary on Nepali girls sent into bonded labor, as well as Hope in the Himalayas and Children of Hope for the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation. Bridgham received the 2008 Nestor Almendros Prize for courage and commitment in human rights filmmaking for The Sari Soldiers.
