#1
http://savingfacefilm.com/

Every year in Pakistan, many people – the majority of them women – are known to be victimized by brutal acid attacks, while numerous other cases go unreported. With little or no access to reconstructive surgery, survivors are physically and emotionally scarred. Many reported assailants, typically a husband or someone else close to the victim, receive minimal punishment from the state.

Recently honored with a Best Documentary Short Oscar®, SAVING FACE chronicles the lives of acid-attack survivors Zakia and Rukhsana as they attempt to bring their assailants to justice and move on with their lives. The women are supported by NGOs, sympathetic policymakers, and skilled doctors, such as the Acid Survivors Foundation- Pakistan, plastic surgeon Dr. Mohammad Jawad, who returns to his home country to assist them, attorney Ms. Sarkar Abbass who fights Zakia’s case, and female politician Marvi Memon who advocates for new legislation.Directed by Oscar® winning and Emmy®-nominated American filmmaker Daniel Junge and Oscar® and Emmy®-winning Pakistani director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, SAVING FACE is an intimate look inside Pakistani society, illuminating each women’s personal journey while showing how reformers are tackling this horrific problem.

SAVING FACE will broadcast internationally in 2012, beginning with HBO in North America on March 8 and Channel Four in the UK.

The filmmakers would like to express our deep gratitude to Zakia and Rukhsana for bravely telling their stories on film, to our NGO partners Acid Survivors Trust International, Acid Survivors Foundation-Pakistan and Islamic Help, and to the countless other men and women dedicating their time and expertise to the campaign to eradicate acid violence.

Daniel Junge
People often physically cringe when I tell them the subject of SAVING FACE. Indeed, the subject is worthy of it — the ability of one human being to literally deface another. But I’m quick to point out that our challenge as filmmakers, and hopefully what we’ve accomplished, is to go beyond the horror of these crimes and portray the humanity of the survivors and the small steps Pakistanis are taking to tackle this vexing problem. The film must be more than an expose of horrendous crimes — it must be a recipe for addressing the problem and a hope for the future.

Also when I describe the film invariably people will comment on my bravery in making such a film, which makes me uncomfortable. It is my Pakistani partners, and particularly my co-director Sharmeen, who disregard their personal safety to tell urgent stories like this in their home country.
Moreover, the bravest collaborators on the project were the women who shared their stories with us. Because of their openness to share, we have a tool to help end this cycle of violence.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Saving Face provides insight into the lives of the most oppressed members of Pakistani society. It goes beyond the immediate horrors of acid violence to its prolonged effects. It forces its viewers to empathize with, but also admire the immense strength of the survivors.

As a woman who has never been subjected to gender discrimination in Pakistan, the awareness that such acts occur and are regarded as the norm in segments of Pakistani society deeply affects me. Yet I believe that stimulating thought about such a sensitive issue is the first step in the direction of alleviating it.

The film shows that a healing power exists within the same boundaries. By drawing attention to the remedial effects of the efforts of other Pakistanis, Saving Face fosters a feeling of hope and seizing responsibility.


This documentary was extremely powerful to me. The initial shock and anger at the perpetrators actually surprised me in this day and age. There are just so many components of human behavior, individual psychology, and group psychology that have to fail for these crimes to be committed and seen as acceptable. I don't mean acceptable in terms of societal or governmental, but rather acceptable by not only the perpetrator but by those around (in most cases) him. In one case, circumstances forced a victim of acid burning to apologize and reconcile with her attackers in order to seek care for her child and shelter for herself. This is glaring in the cases where, even though the perpetrator denies the allegations, the victim is not given medical assistance in a timely or effective manner. It is hard to not experience the visceral emotional reaction to hearing their stories, and to suppress the "eye for an eye" mentality for victims of this type of attack.

I may be vastly ignorant on the subject of acid burning throughout human history, but it seems to have been a relatively recent phenomena outside of comic book super hero origin stories and super-villain plots. What encourages this type of violence? Is this type of violence only found in this area of the world, or it universal? Are certain structures of society more prone to this type of action happening?

If any of you get the chance I strongly recommend viewing this documentary.
#2
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#3
That's so fucked up , someone needs to put those guys in torture prison forever
#4
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790706/
#5
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#6
Where are ppl getting all this acid
#7

Goethestein posted:
Where are ppl getting all this acid



raves

#8
the acid store, which is just up the road from the Butt Store
#9
this film is bad because, like, imperialism
#10

tpaine posted:


But why acid???????

Also from the documentary they use battery acid, and they dilute it to determine how much they actually want to cause permanent damage versus just "prove their point."

In regards to torture prison, they did bring up the idea of allowing the victims to throw acid on their aggressors.

#11
there was an acid attack in the uk recently(ish) iirc, all people involved were white.
#12
people have been chucking acid in each other's faces since Prohibition
#13

Goethestein posted:
Where are ppl getting all this acid


low-ph chemists

#14
tldr is this the thread for terminator fanfic where the machines fight wife-beating?
Spoiler!
#15
but on the other hand if only liberal western mores weren't spreading across the world like leukemia spreading from blood cell to blood cell, these poor confused women wouldn't have been driven to transgress their wider cultural milieu; acid attacks and violence against women in general wouldn't be an issue. well, it would, but it would be sanctioned, understood, analyzed and opposed in a holistic and pure way; it would even be possible for women, the poor, the enslaved and all oppressed sectors of peripheral societies to fight for their emancipation without simultaneously betraying the entire nation out to international capital and jewry
#16
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#17
i don't agree with blinding someone because from a pragmatic point of view, that person then becomes a drain on society. rather, instead, those people should just be castrated, it's a win/win
#18

littlegreenpills posted:
but on the other hand if only liberal western mores weren't spreading across the world like leukemia spreading from blood cell to blood cell, these poor confused women wouldn't have been driven to transgress their wider cultural milieu; acid attacks and violence against women in general wouldn't be an issue. well, it would, but it would be sanctioned, understood, analyzed and opposed in a holistic and pure way; it would even be possible for women, the poor, the enslaved and all oppressed sectors of peripheral societies to fight for their emancipation without simultaneously betraying the entire nation out to international capital and jewry



Most of the transgressions featured in the documentary were commuted due to situations that would have occurred regardless of western bombing campaigns or breastfeeding in public while returning home from blasphemer's university (got my ba there.) Things such as seeking refuge from an alcoholic and abusive husband, the wealthy villagers pardoning themselves of wrong doing.

Either way, maybe we can castrated with acid

#19
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#20
Muslim country, is anyone surprised?
#21

getfiscal posted:
Muslim country, is anyone surprised?



getfiscal: kill every damn A-rab

#22
eyes without a face

#23

libelous_slander posted:
Most of the transgressions featured in the documentary were commuted due to situations that would have occurred regardless of western bombing campaigns or breastfeeding in public while returning home from blasphemer's university (got my ba there.)



http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/01/27/in-afghanistan-embracing-gulbuddin-hekmatyar-is-no-method-at-all.html

#24
its funny to me that someone would spend all that time carefully cracking a bunch of batteries and then diluting the acid with water just to make their point. "next time it will be full-strength!" i can understand a man hitting a woman out of anger but going through all that trouble and planning is sociopathic as hell. islam
#25

Goethestein posted:
its funny to me that someone would spend all that time carefully cracking a bunch of batteries and then diluting the acid with water just to make their point. "next time it will be full-strength!" i can understand a man hitting a woman out of anger but going through all that trouble and planning is sociopathic as hell. islam



are you arguing that patriarchal attitudes towards women viewing them as objects is inherent within islam?? why... i never :colbert:

#26
i think theres a difference between objectification and dehumanization
#27

Goethestein posted:

i think theres a difference between objectification and dehumanization

#28
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#29
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan was entirely justified and the actions that the PDPA undertook (particularly in the period immediately following the Saur revolution to 1980) were not only correct but beneficial to the country.

I really despise the Mujaheddin.
#30
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#31

mynissanisonfire posted:
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan was entirely justified and the actions that the PDPA undertook (particularly in the period immediately following the Saur revolution to 1980) were not only correct but beneficial to the country.

I really despise the Mujaheddin.



lol their land reform was a complete mess that caused agricultural output to drop like 30%, they also killed and imprisoned tens of thousands of people. and in any case the parchamis reversed taraki's policies during the invasion so how can you support both sides

Socialists :roll:

Edited by babyfinland ()

#32
maybe your nissan is on fire because of your ideological failures
#33
http://books.google.com/books?id=RUSNyMH1aFQC&q=315#v=snippet&q=land%20reform&f=false
#34

mynissanisonfire posted:
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan was entirely justified and the actions that the PDPA undertook (particularly in the period immediately following the Saur revolution to 1980) were not only correct but beneficial to the country.

I really despise the Mujaheddin.



yeah this is why i like the US occupation better than the soviet one, at least the yanks believe in God and family

#35
Afghan Maoists oppose Soviet and PDPA revisionism: http://a-l-o.maoism.ru/historical.htm
#36
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#37

tpaine posted:

babyfinland posted:
Afghan Maoists support the NRP against revisionism: http://a-l-o.maoism.ru/historical.htm

he's the angry atari sega nerd. he's the angry video game nerd.



im the angry afghanistan sperg nerd

#38
#39
A Maoist approach may have been more appropriate given Afghanistan's conditions, but the PDPA had to drag a feudalistic country into modernity (note: I don't mean "Western"). The land reform was a disaster but the Khalq backed-off that policy in mid-1979. If anything the Parchami failure is due to the fact that they made too many concessions.

Tell me, what have subsequent Afghan governments accomplished between 1992 and now?
#40

Ironicwarcriminal posted:
yeah this is why i like the US occupation better than the soviet one, at least the yanks believe in God and family



The US occupation is a travesty.