La Source des femmes

Radu Mihaileanu

Modern, feminist fairytale about Muslim women that go on a ‘love strike’ in order to persuade their husbands to trade places when it comes to carrying water down the mountain.

In a mountain village, somewhere between northern Africa and the Middle East, with no electricity and running water, the women, some of whom are heavily pregnant, traditionally carry buckets of water down to the village from a spring high up in the mountains. In doing so, they are exposed to the burning sun and the dangers of the steep road that goes through the rocks, whereas the male village dwellers often spend their entire day doing nothing. Leila, just married, is fed up with the traditional differences between men and women in the Muslim society and encourages the women to abstain from having sex with their husbands until the latter take some action by themselves. The embargo triggers intersexual tensions in the village and puts conventional relationships on edge. Colourful film about breaking traditional, oppressive conventions in the Arab world.

Credits

Director
Radu Mihaileanu
Year
2011
Country of production
France, Belgium, Italy
Type
Fiction
Duration
135 minutes
Spoken language
Arabic
Subtitles
NL
Production company
Indigo Film
World Sales
EuropaCorp
Dutch distributor
Cinéart