In Hillary Clinton’s concession speech last month, she made a poignant address to “all of the little girls” watching, reminding them never to “doubt that [they] are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve [their] own dreams". If you were to scour the globe for a young girl who embodies this sentiment, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better candidate than Mongolian teenager Aisholpan, the star of Otto Bell’s brilliant new documentary The Eagle Huntress, which arrives in UK cinemas this week and is already hotly tipped for an Oscar.
Aisholpan, with the support of her loving father Nurgaiv, is determined to defy centuries-old Kazakh tradition to become the first ever female eagle hunter. A pursuit that requires resilience, strength, precision and technical skill, eagle hunting – her Kazakh elders inform her – is not for girls. But Aisholpan remains quietly self-confident and sets out on a mission to prove herself. A gruelling but rewarding journey ensues, taking her from her home in the Altai Mountains to the prestigious Golden Eagle competition in Mongolia's westernmost aimag, right into the heart of the country’s treacherous, snow-capped wilderness. The film, with breathtaking cinematography and narration by Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley, is an enthralling and uplifting feminist tale, and the perfect remedy to the 2016 blues. Here, in celebration of its release, we take a look at 10 other must-watch documentaries to inspire female empowerment.
The Eagle Huntress is in cinemas nationwide from 16th December, 2016.
Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed (2004)
Before Obama or Hillary, there was Shirley Chisholm: the first black woman to run for American president. This excellent documentary by Shola Lynch examines the prim yet passionately liberal candidate’s 1972 campaign and the events leading up to it, from her childhood in Barbados to her election to the US Congress. Chisholm’s motives in running for president were, in her own words, “Sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.” She didn’t want to be seen solely as a representative of black people or of women but as a spokeswoman for the underrepresented, championing the causes of the poor, the young, the gay and many other marginalised Americans. “Her story is an important reminder of the power of a dedicated individual to make a difference,” says Lynch – a relevant message, even now.
A Walk to Beautiful (2007)
A Walk to Beautiful shines a light on obstetric fistula, a devastating injury that can occur during childbirth; to date, over one million women and girls in developing countries around the world are affected. It renders sufferers incontinent, meaning that they are frequently ostracised by their families and friends, as well as society at large. In Mary Olive Smith and Amy Bucher’s moving documentary, we hear first-hand the shattering consequences of this condition for Ayehu, Almaz, Zewdie, Yenenesh and Wubet, five brave women from separate parts of rural Ethiopia who undertake an exhausting journey on foot to the specialist fistula hospital in Addis Ababa, where a dedicated team of doctors and nurses will seek to cure them.
Beaches of Agnès (2008)
In this autobiographical film by Agnès Varda, pioneer of French New Wave cinema, the self-described “little old lady, pleasantly plump” revisits her storied past – from her childhood in Belgium and teenage years in occupied Paris to her marriage to fellow director Jacques Demy and work as a social activist – by looking back on the making of each of her films. “I wanted to be like a bird. I wanted to be free in my memory, to go from one part to another and see what I would find,” the filmmaker said, and here she deftly weaves realism and fiction, past and present, with poetic wistfulness. Whether you’re familiar with Varda’s oeuvre, or simply looking for a lesson in living life to the fullest and with artistic integrity, Beaches of Agnès makes for magical viewing.
Sonita (2015)
For her multiple award-winning film Sonita, Iranian documentary maker Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami spent three years following Sonita Alizadeh, a teenage Afghan refugee living in Iran and venting her political frustrations through rap (in spite of the country’s strict laws forbidding women to sing). Sonita fills her days with work, performing for friends in her Tehran shelter and sticking pictures of Rihanna into her scrapbook, covering the singer’s face with a photo of her own. Her dreams of musical stardom are shattered when her mother arrives on the scene with a plan to sell her young daughter into marriage for the sum of $9,000. Among the film’s many gripping twists and turns as it follows Sonita’s bid for freedom and self-expression, are the director’s controversial decision to save her from her fate and the moving events that ensue, as Sonita grows into a remarkable and empowered activist.
Blessed is the Match (2008)
Hungarian poet and diarist Hannah Senesh is little known outside of Israel, and yet she was one of the most extraordinary heroes of the Second World War. In 1939, the Jewish teenager narrowly escaped the Nazi regime when she opted to study in Israel – but rather than remain in safety as war tore through Europe, she resolved to return and fight for her homeland. In 1943, she enlisted as a paratrooper with the British army and one year later parachuted into Yugoslavia to participate in the rescue of Hungarian Jews being transported to Auschwitz. Tragically she was captured by the Nazis, tortured and eventually executed, aged just 22. Blessed is the Match is the first film dedicated to this gifted and complex young woman, telling her story through interviews with those who knew her – including fellow parachutists and prisoners in the Gestapo jail where she was held captive – and through her own stirring writing, and extracts from her mother’s memoirs.
Public Speaking (2010)
Martin Scorsese’s HBO documentary is a joyful paean to the art of conversation and to one of its most renowned pioneers: sardonic American author, public speaker and queen of the one-liner, Fran Lebowitz. We watch as Lebowitz sits in plush New York restaurant The Waverly Inn, in her signature white-shirt-black-suit combo, expounding on the virtues of the past and the failures of the present, and wittily reflecting on her own life – a lengthy period of “writer’s blockage”, her technological ineptitude, her car... Scorsese intersperses Lebovitz’s lively monologues with archival footage of other great minds, including James Baldwin, Truman Capote and Gore Vidal, which serves to illustrate Lebowitz’s observation that there is little place for intellectual discourse in today’s popular culture. If anyone can spark a renaissance, though, Lebowitz can.
He Named Me Malala (2015)
He Named Me Malala is the remarkable story of Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was shot in the head at the age of 15 after vocally campaigning for girls’ education in her native Swat valley, Pakistan. Since the incident, Yousafzai – now based in Birmingham – has become a fearless advocate for children's and women’s rights around the globe (in the film we see her reprimand Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan for his lack of support for the Boko Haram abductees). Made three years after her attack and directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim, the documentary paints an intimate and inspirational portrait of the young heroine.
Vessel (2014)
In 1999, Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts, shocked by the dreadful realities facing women in countries where abortion is illegal, decided to take matters into her own hands. Detecting a loophole in anti-abortion law, she set sail with her project, Women on Waves, to perform safe abortions in offshore waters around the world. Vessel, directed by Diana Whitten, follows Gomperts for almost a decade, providing a compelling first-hand account of the gutsy doctor’s struggle to overcome fierce opposition and refine her vision from idealism to slick worldwide movement, cultivating an underground network of emboldened and educated activists in the process.
Gloria: In Her Own Words (2011)
If you love Gloria Steinem as much as we do then this HBO profile is an absolute must-see. Told through a series of candid interviews with Steinem herself, interwoven with archive footage, it traces her emergence as an icon of the women’s liberation movement – from her breakthrough exposé on the working conditions at Playboy (which saw the then-reporter disguise herself as a Bunny) to her political awakening at an abortion hearing in 1969 and her cofounding of the visionary Ms. magazine in 1971. She also reflects, with touching vulnerability, on some of the personal challenges she has faced in later years, including a battle with cancer, a period of depression and the death of her husband, David Bale.
Rough Aunties (2008)
Acclaimed British filmmaker Kim Longinotto has made many memorable films about extraordinary women, and 2008’s Rough Aunties is one of her best. It centres on an outspoken group of multiracial female volunteers in Durban, South Africa, who have devoted themselves to protecting the area’s abused and neglected children at the Bobbi Bear child welfare organisation. Standing strong in the face of violence, corruption, racism and greed, as well as their own personal hardships, the Rough Aunties nurture and support those entrusted to their care with an articulate and unswerving conviction that can’t help but inspire hope.
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