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Film Screening and Discussion | “Village of Women” (2019) and virtual Q/A with filmmaker Tamara Stepanyan and Michael Pifer, Lecturer, Department of Middle East Studies

A village where women, children, and elderly reside. Men leave nine months of the year for Russia to work. Summer, a slow and friendly atmosphere; women do the hay, cut the grass, and store for the winter. Fruits are canned to be eaten during the cold winter. The sun arouses certain laziness, a sensual relaxation. Autumn, with its different shades of red, is the season of birth and potato harvest. Women and men find intimacy in the coldness of winter, hence, women give birth in October and November. Fathers meet their children in December. Preparations start early to welcome men. Waiting is long and tiring.

Winter is near, a form of suspense sets in: whose husband will come first? The men arrive with the snow. The women are shy, they need time to exist in the presence of men. The children are happy to be close to their fathers. Spring sets in, the atmosphere becomes tense. Men depart for the land of tsars. She is weak and sad but needs to find the strength to take care of the children.

Dec 2, 2020 12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)