Exciting news is that In The Name of your Daughter will have its UK Premiere at the Raindance Festival in London. It will show at the Vue Cinema in Piccadilly on Thursday 4th October at 6.30pm and Friday 5th October at 4pm.
The Raindance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the UK, officially recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences USA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the British Independent Film Awards.
The Thursday showing will include a Q&A session with Giselle Portenier (Director/Producer) and Christopher Browne (Executive Producer), while Giselle will also be on hand for a Q&A at the Friday showing. Rhobi Samwelly should also be in attendance.
This is an important event for TDT, as the film centres around the work of the Safe House in Mara, built through the generosity of donors large and small, who responded to TDT’s appeals. In its first four years around 500 girls were protected and saved from FGM and Early Marriage through the amazing work of Rhobi and her teams. TDT also provided ‘seed money’ for the film itself. We encourage all who can, to come and see the amazing work of Rhobi Samwelly in combatting FGM.
December in northern Tanzania is “cutting season” – the school holiday period during which young girls between 8 and 15 (or even younger) are submitted to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), in the name of tradition, curbing promiscuity, and securing a better bridal dowry. Torn between pressures from families and the wider community, and their own desire not to be “cut”, over 200 girls find their way to the safe house, run by the compassionate and commanding Rhobi. Some make a dangerous journey on foot; others are protected by teachers and the Women’s Division of the local police. Director Giselle Portenier follows the stories of these young girls, allowing them to speak of their own experiences. Family circumstances are revealed, with some girls being vocal and resistant, others finding it difficult to open up about this traumatic and personal issue. The challenge of fighting deep-seated tradition is constant, despite attempts by safe house staff, police, teachers, and the girls themselves, to educate about the dangers of FGM. Revealing and emotional, this documentary places the girls at the centre of their story, while highlighting their close family bonds and the efforts of others to end a practice that leaves girls mutilated or worse.