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15th DMZ Docs(2023)

I AM DOCU



Naomi UMAN

  • Albania, Mexico
  • 2023
  • 96min
  • 12 +
  • DCP
  • color/black and white

Asian premiere

Synopsis

This film in three parts explores traditions in rural Albania and the role of women in society. The project begins by describing the filmmaker¡¯s relationship to the country and an unwanted personal sacrifice which solidifies this connection. The film moves into a poetic portrayal of village life and the roles of women in society and concludes with a video piece, revealing the villagers active participation in their own depiction. 

Review

 The director's personal experiences and connections in a small Albanian village serve as the basis for an anthropological report or essay recorded through the lens of human interaction. According to local legends, in order to complete a castle, women's bodies had to be buried within its walls. The women who accepted this sacrifice requested to leave one eye, one breast, one hand, and one foot outside the castle so they could see, feed, and take care of their children. In this region, where women's bodies became the foundation of the castle and providers for their offspring, traditional patriarchal roles persist. The region is both distant to the director as an outsider and close as a woman, becoming a place of personal significance after the loss of a companion pet. The director's unique perspective captures various aspects and nuances of local life, centered where her gaze rests. Over half of the film consists of faded, noisy visuals intercut with intermittent subtitles, giving the sensation of reading an old storybook about the region where fragments of women's bodies were left outside the castle to continue caring for their descendants. Within this framework, the film's exploration of the region repeats and reenacts the Kanun, a legal code established around 1450, simultaneously generating fractures. The director's intimate yet somewhat fragmented narrative style skillfully portrays a gender-fluid culture amidst entrenched patriarchal norms, even in places where these norms seem solid, using dark comedy to highlight the evident fractures.

Director

  • Naomi UMAN

    Naomi Uman has lived in Ukraine and Mexico for many years. Her work is composed of intimate portraits of others and her own participation and influence on these representations. Many of her homemade, analogical films focus on the role of women and handiwork. She poetically and intimately explores the lives of others, while simultaneously revealing herself, her biases and her active participation in the projects.

Credit