The documentary film series Fundamental directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is an opportunity to see closely the lives and organizations of women activists in five different countries. The documentary film contains remarkable aspects as it shows a global organization model against all the pressures faced by women and LGBTQI+ activists.

RÜYA HÜSEYİNOĞLU

İzmir-“Fundamental: Gender Justice. No Exceptions” documentary series is one of the remarkable films recently. It takes audiences to Brazil, Georgia, Kenya, Pakistan, and the United States, showing us sections of activism for women, by women. Journalist, activist, and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was born in Pakistan and she is known for her work and films highlighting gender inequality. 

Fundamental is a series of short films highlighting five women changing their communities with their activist work. As always, the activists fight at the frontline for human rights problems women faced. While watching the documentary film, we witness their lives including severe threats, pain, and disappointment of their society. The filmmaker feels very hopeful about audiences to get more and more accurate information about the activists' lives. The idea is to start an important discourse about what it means to be an activist today, to inspire others to become activists, to show them the face of activists, and to take them into the minds of these people. Let’s know more about these 17-minute Fundamental episodes.

Girls at the Heart of It: Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Kenya

The first episode of the documentary film tells us the stories of women in Kenya. One of the stories is the story of a woman becoming a mother at an early age and her daughter. The woman leaves her daughter with her parents. We see another story, the story of another woman who lost her family when she was a child. We see the brutal and cruel face of society when a woman is raped. The film tells us how a woman is found guilty even though she is raped. We see that the "conservative" society finds women guilty even if they are victims and how women's rights activists live under pressure.

Living out loud: LGBTQI+ Rights in Georgia

The film begins with footage of the oppressive effects of the Orthodox Church in Georgia. Because of this understanding in society, we see that women and particularly LGBTQI+ are considered as sinful and sick people. Church members attack these people on the International Day Against Homophobia in 2013. These attacks are also supported by the government and the principle of the right to marriage in the constitution, "Marriage should be based on equal rights and the free will of both spouses" was changed in 2017 and the word “spouse” was changed to “woman and man”.

Rising power: Building an intersectional justice movement in the United States

The struggle in the USA is discussed through racism and gender inequality. The film shows us how black women try to organize communities such as Hmong and Khmer under the umbrella of Freedom Inc. We witness the stories of activists struggling with violations of many issues. 

Defenders of justice: Fighting racism and patriarchy in Brazil

The documentary film shows the struggles of activists over the issue of racism, just like in the US. It focuses on the right to abortion. It also looks at sexuality and reproductive rights and it shows how abortion is prohibited, but only accessible to some rich people. 

Rights not roses: ending child, early and forced marriage in Pakistan

The documentary film looks at the child, early and forced marriages in Pakistan. The legal marriage age is 16 for girls and 18 for boys but we witness that girls are married at an unacceptable age, at nine. We observe the events from the perspective of an activist of the country.