Film and Talk: The Sad Truth - Helle Stenum
In the busy December month we always screen a film or documentary. This year: The Sad Truth by Helle Stenum, who will also give an introduction to her documentary.
The Sad Truth is a film about young Syrian women in Danish deportation camps who are faced with two choices: return to their country of origin or spend an indefinite time in the camp. Their stories echo stories of the Danish deportation of Jews in the 1930s and of German war refugees in 1945-1947.
We meet Syrian women Sahar, Nadia, Enas and Mariam, who have lost their asylum claim, as well as activists: retired teacher Gerda, law student Rahima, writer Anne Lise and priest Per, who all try to change and challenge the situation; and we also listen to politicians who defend the deportation law.
The film invites us to reflect on similarities and differences in the situation of refugees and in political rhetoric over time, and also on narrative: who tells these stories and how? How is the Danish deportation policy of the past remembered and told? Who are remembered and who are forgotten?
You can watch the trailer here.
Practical
Date 10 December
Time 16:00
Duration 1 hour 15 minutes
Place IISG, Cruquiusweg 31, Amsterdam
Entrance Free entrance, but please register at event@iisg.nl
Helle Stenum is a PhD, filmmaker, independent scholar and activist. Director of 2017 award winning documentary: We Carry It Within Us. Fragments of a colonial past. She is lecturer at Roskilde University, Denmark (Cultural Encounters, Department of Communication and Art).
