Dochouse Presents: Salma

Next Thursday, the 26th September, Dochouse present a special one-off screening of SALMA, Kim Longinottos hugely anticipated documentary on a Tamil poet, at the Rich Mix Cinema. 

The film follows Tamil poet Salma, whose story is one of extreme repression, resilience and survival, after years of confinement in first her parents house and later her husbands. Kim Longintto is renowned for films that highlight the plight of female victims of oppression or discrimination; her editor and long-time collaborator, Ollie Huddleston, will join us for a Q&A after the film.

When Salma was 13, her parents took her out of school and locked her away in a room with a single window. After 9 years she gave in to pressure to agree to an arranged marriage and was released from her house arrest into another kind of prison, in the home of her new husband’s family.

Throughout her desperate years of confinement, Salma poured out her anguish writing poetry, which she sneaked out of the house, eventually getting a notebook into the hands of an enthusiastic publisher. Against the odds, Salma became one of the best known Tamil poets and her newfound fame helped her start on the path to freedom.

Following Salma on a trip back to her village, renowned British director Kim Longinotto (Divorce Iranian Style, 1998; Sisters in Law, 2005; Rough Aunties, 2008) paints a nuanced portrait of an extraordinary, resilient woman. Salma has hopes for a different life for the next generation of girls, but as she witnesses, familial ties run deep, and change happens very slowly.

Winner Best International Documentary – Documentary Edge Festival 2013
Official selection – Sundance Film Festival 2013
Official selection – Sheffield Doc/Fest 2013

For more information on the screening and to purchase tickets, you can head over to the Dochouse site by clicking here.