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Anqa review – women in Jordan share harrowing testimony of their abuse
Helin Çelik’s documentary mixes impressionistic visuals with chillingly matter-of-fact accounts of abduction, incarceration and domestic violence
Helin Çelik’s otherworldly, impressionistic documentary opens with lines from a poem by Rumi evoking Mount Qaf, a mystical mountain erected by Allah. In this place that encircles the Earth and touches heaven dwells the anqa, a fabled female bird that symbolises resurrection after misfortunes.
The three Jordanian women at the heart of Çelik’s film are going through their own journeys of healing and rebirth. Mostly shot in profile or from behind, they speak of the horrifying violence they have endured. Their stories of abuse, abduction and incarceration starkly contrast with their domestic surroundings, which are shot with amazing warmth. From the rustling of the curtains to the gentle shimmering of a dallah coffee pot on the stove, the sights and sounds of the everyday are at once calming and eerie. It seems unimaginable that life can go on in all its normalcy while these suffering souls are still walled in by their harrowing experiences.
Continue reading...© Photograph: PR
© Photograph: PR
