The Mulberry House

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Dir. in person! NY premiere!

After 10 years in Scotland, Sara Ishaq travels back to her childhood home of Yemen and takes her camera along. She hopes to feel at home in the place that was once so close to her heart, but the complications soon become clear. Outside the gates of her family home, people are protesting against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s authoritarian rule, and Ishaq and her family quickly become caught up in the movement. Ishaq contributes by acting as a local correspondent, sharing news with the international press. In this personal and touching film, Ishaq captures events in her own home throughout this tumultuous period, when multiple changes are afoot.

A popular uprising in 2011 ended President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule, which was marked by widespread human rights abuses, but not before government forces and pro-Saleh gangs killed hundreds of protesters and wounded thousands of others. A fragile transition government has pledged to usher in democratic reforms as well as equal rights for women. But violations of free speech and assembly, gender equality and other rights continue on a smaller scale. Meanwhile, Saleh remains in Yemen as the head of his political party. An immunity law for the former president and all those who served with him has thwarted Yemenis’ demands for justice for past abuses.

Part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2014

• Country Syria/Yemen/Egypt/Scotland/United Arab Emirates
• Rating NR
• Running Time 64 minutes
• Director Sara Ishaq

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