Yasmina Hamlawi – Rain on the dead
Friday, 18 September⋅8:15 – 9:00pm
This evening at 8:15pm freelance journalist Yasmina Hamlawi presents ‘Rain on the dead’.
In Algeria, burials are men’s work, while crying is considered a woman’s role. Eight-year-old Kenza travels to Algeria with her mother, Yasmina, in search of her origins and to honour her deceased grandfather. Through the reconstructed fragments, Kenza reconnects with part of herself. Using her pencils, she illustrates her findings with candour and wisdom. The documentary explores the universal need for rituals to mark the transition from life to death, transcending culture, religion, and gender. In Algeria, as in the rest of North Africa, cultural norms dictate the roles of men and women. Many women suffer from these traditions, which are steeped in stereotype, and want to change them so that they can play a visible role in funeral rituals.
Yasmina’s work focuses on women’s access to fundamental rights in a globalised world. From the Arab world to India, from Bangladesh to Iran, she writes about people and their struggle for life: social equality, migration, access to water and education, climate impact. During her reports, she decided to swap the pen for the microphone and started to make her own first creative documentaries. Through her radio creations, Yasmina continues to give voice to the voiceless and to deal with non-visible, almost unspeakable subjects. She explores sound territories to give strength and accuracy to the story.
An English translation subtitled video of the piece is available here:
https://yasminahamlawi.com/pleuvoir-sur-les-morts/
