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VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY REVIEW Volume 22 Number 2 Fall 2006
While this film should be lauded for its artistic value
and the poignant reminders of the struggle so many
women face against this disfiguring and sometimes
deadly disease, it is not an ethnographic film. From an
artistic standpoint, it is well done and very creative,
with incredible imagery and metaphor. From a feminist
standpoint, it helps to empower women. It stands along-
side the brilliant Art.Rage.Us: Art and Writing by Women
with Breast Cancer (J.W.T. Eikenberry. Chronicle Books,
1998) documenting the art women have developed to
show fear, anger, and ultimate triumph against breast
cancer. From an anthropological viewpoint, however,
it is lacking. In order to understand its ethnographic
value, the viewer must have a background in the culture
of breast cancer patients and the actual medical issues
faced, as well as of the mythic Amazonian women war-
riors. Some of the images and sounds are unfamiliar to
those who do not have this background knowledge. Am-
azonian women warriors are only referred to in passing
at the end of the film without any meaningful explana-
tion. The viewer may see the reference and understand
it, but will more likely miss it entirely unless she reads
the producer’s explanation of the film. Without knowl-
edge of Amazonian women, the title makes little sense
and the passing reference even less.
The ethnographic value of the film would have been
enhanced with the provision of greater background and
context for the novice viewer. The study and emic un-
derstanding of breast cancer patients, which is the true
value of a film like this to anthropology, can only be
realized if the film is used as a secondary source of
information, along with other visual and textual mate-
rial. It would be entirely appropriate to use this film
to augment a discussion of women’s health and how
women understand and fight disease. Yet, it would not
be appropriate to allow the film to speak for itself in a
classroom setting. In sum, “Amazonia” is more appro-
priate for a feminist interpretation of the fight against
breast cancer or as an empowerment tool for patients
than it is for anthropological study or teaching.
Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan
Directed by Petr Lom, 2004, 51 minutes, color, First Run/
Icarus Films, 32 Court Street, 21st Floor, Brooklyn, NY
11201, www.frif.com
Hülya Demirderik
University of Victoria
Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan is a documentary which
successfully conveys the social and cultural complexity
surrounding this recently revived practice in a former
VAR 22_2.indb 74
Central Asian Soviet Republic. There is no voice-over or
narrator but the filmmaker uses conventional hints that
help the audience “tune in” to a particular documentary
film structure. The film begins with a Kyrgyz folksong
sung by a woman, and the opening scene is a close-up of
traditional bread-making which hints at the rural loca-
tion of most of the filming. The bread-making scenes are
interspersed with text on a black screen: “Kyrgyzstan
is one of the few countries where bride kidnapping is
still common,” “Kidnapping is a way to avoid the high
bride price usually asked by a Kyrgyz girl’s family,” “In
some cases, the bride agrees to a mock abduction be-
fore the wedding,” “But many Kyrgyz kidnappings are
real.” While these opening sentences frame bride kid-
napping rather narrowly, the film presents a richness of
interpretations and experiences surrounding this prac-
tice. In fact, a tension emerges in the film between the
interpretive structure conveyed through section titles
and the diversity of cases, individuals, and translated
narratives. The first kidnapping is introduced with the
Kyrgyz saying “Many tears begin a good marriage.”
Then, the name of the girl to be kidnapped appears
on the screen. A filmmaker who wanted to reinforce
a particular understanding of culture and of the resis-
tance exhibited by the young girls might have trans-
lated sentences uttered, for example, by Ainagul, the
first kidnapped girl: “But no one lives your life,” “You
build your own future,” or “Follow others, you will be
unhappy.” The interpretive frame may reflect filmmaker
Petr Lom’s desire to make his own views on bride kid-
napping explicit while at the same time recognizing the
conflicting manifestations of conformity and resistance
in Kyrgyzstan.
The power of this film lies in its rich visual sto-
rytelling of several instances of bride kidnapping. The
stories depicted reflect both the contested nature of
kidnapping as well as female agency in the reproduc-
tion of bride kidnapping. Furthermore, at the end of
the film we see successive portraits of two recently and
happily married couples, two young girls who resisted
and avoided marriage, a young man who failed to per-
suade any of the kidnapped girls to stay with him, and
the father of a dead girl who most probably committed
suicide after being kidnapped. These stories accomplish
more than originally intended by the filmmaker himself
by inviting the viewer to go beyond the filmmaker’s
textual commentaries.
Although each kidnapping story involves numer-
ous individuals, the close camerawork and assistant di-
rector/interpreter Fatima Sartbaeva’s ability to access
personal expressions through words as well as facial
and bodily movements create a persuasive and inti-
mate profile of the persons in those stories. The film
10/25/06 5:12:37 PM
 Film Reviews 75

does a good job of conveying the sometimes conflict- The Veil Unveiled: Beyond Appearances
ing interests and viewpoints of the different individu-
als within each story. The first kidnapping story starts Directed by Vanessa Langer, 2004, 30 minutes, color.
with short commentaries demonstrating that not only Distributed by êthos films, Rue des Cordiers 6, 1207
the groom-to-be but also other members of his family Geneva, Switzerland, langervanessa@hotmail.com
are strongly motivated to obtain a bride, not least of
Fadwa El Guindi
all because they need someone to milk the cows. The
Qatar University
connection between kidnapping and the need for fe-
male labour is reinforced verbally and visually as this
man answers the filmmaker’s questions without stop-
ping his work.
The determination expressed by some of the grooms’
kin is a recurring element in the stories. One young
man’s father explains, “if you refuse, then we kidnap
your sister.” The film also gives the viewer the opportu-
nity to see how young women resist these efforts. After
a kidnapped woman is taken to the groom’s home, his
kinswomen attempt to place a large white scarf on her
head; acceptance of the scarf means acceptance of mar-
riage. In some of the most compelling scenes, we watch
the young kidnapped women’s mild but determined re-
sistance to the persistence effort of the female members
of the kidnapper’s family, who tell her that they too were
kidnapped and that they are not going to let her leave
the house. These are powerful images which make one
wonder what would have happened if there were no Still from The Veil Unveiled, 2004. Courtesy of Vanessa Langer.
camera present.
In all cases the involvement of the girls’ fami-
lies brings out the complex dynamic between cul- The title is sexy and catchy. The topic is women’s di-
ture and power. The story of Kyal, whose dead body verse veils and veil parts in San’a, Yemen: how and
was returned to her parents, is emotionally power- when women wear veils and their changing fashion over
ful and the comments made by her sister—who had time, particularly within a globalized economy and as
heard the rumors that Kyal committed suicide because a result of recent influences from other countries in the
she was not a virgin—point to a deeper cultural slant region. Both the DVD case and companion pamphlet
in gender relations that goes beyond the surface issue sport cover headshot photos, without captions, of veiled
of kidnapping. Arab women with henna decorated hands delicately and
The least explored dimensions in the film are the femininely holding the edge of a black head/face cov-
revival of kidnappings after the fall of the Soviet re- er worn above exposed eyes. Behind them is the same
gime, the impact of the filming process itself and the background decor (sheer cream curtain with bright red
possible ethical dilemmas experienced by the filmmak- floral patterns) as that in the moving video behind the
er. As a documentary Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan women who silently illustrate the different veils and
can be a very useful resource for discussing cross-cul- veil parts with dexterity and in much detail. Presumably
tural explorations of emotions, love, customs and tra- their method, message, and meaning are self-evident.
dition, gender roles, generational differences, agency The pamphlet states:
and structure and for examining the ethical aspects of
documentary filmmaking. In Yemen, the land of Queen Sheba, a wide variety of
veils can be found. In the capital San’a, the women,
although at first sight appearing to all be wearing
but black, distinguish themselves one from the other
through this diversity. Each veil not only carries its
own symbolism, but the variety of ways of wearing
each becomes a form of expression. It becomes a
game of what one hides and what one unveils.

VAR 22_2.indb 75 10/25/06 5:12:38 PM