A film by Raymonde Provencher
For as long as men have fought in wars, women have
been part of the spoils of conquering armies.
Throughout the 20th century, from Nicaragua
to South Korea, Rwanda to Bangladesh and Bosnia, the same crime has been
perpetrated time and time again, on thousands upon thousands of women.
Many of the women who survived wartime rapes now live with a daily reminder
of their ordeal: the children born of this heinous crime, the children
of the enemy.
Whether they are called Ryan, Hayling or Akimana, whether they have black,
white or brown skin, their story paints the terrible picture of the ravages
of war on this planet.
And, for the time being, there is no sign that the new century will be
any different than the last.
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Ryan B. Good is a Canadian who lives in
Waterloo, Ontario. In a poem he wrote about his life story, he says
: “My name is Ryan Badol. I have two mothers – one calls
me Ryan, and the other calls me Badol. The one, who calls me Ryan,
I have known all my life. The one, who calls me Badol, I have never
met. I was born in Bangladesh to the Mother who calls me Badol. Three
weeks later, I was born in Canada to the Mother who calls me Ryan. A Pakistani soldier raped the Mother who calls me Badol in 1971. I am a war baby.” |
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| At 82 years, Mrs. Chung lives in Pyontaek, Korea. She became pregnant while the Japanese Army used her as a comfort woman during World War II. She gave birth to a son who recently discovered his father’s true Japanese identity. |
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Savera was a mother of seven. During the recent genocide in Rwanda, Savera's husband and children were all killed. She later discovered that she was carrying the child of one of several men who raped her at the community centre where she had taken refuge. Savera now has a five-year-old daughter named Akimana, which means "who comes from God". | |
| In Bosnia, it is estimated some 20,000 women were raped during the Balkan war. “Nusreta” is one of them. She and her daughter were raped night after night while held as prisoners in a camp. Nusreta who became pregnant as a result of the rapes, decided to seek abortion at all means at her disposal after she escaped. |
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Hailing Martines is 16 year old and already a mother. She doesn’t remember much of the civil war that lasted for more than a decade in Nicaragua. But she knows many women of her village who were raped by neighbouring contras that remain in the same village to this day. Her mother is one of them and Hailing is the product of a rape. She believes she has identified the man who is both her biological father and her mother’s rapist. | |
2003 Gémeaux Awards
Best Documentary Film
Best Research
Best Editing
Best Sound
Audience Award, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto, 2003.
Best documentary, Yorkton Film Festival, Saskatchewan, 2003.
Best Documentary of Human Rights Award, Docupolis International Documentary Festival, Barcelona, Spain, 2003.
| script and direction Raymonde Provencher camera Robert Vanherweghem sound Gilles Monette Marcel Fraser editing Aube Foglia research Raymonde Provencher Rupa Farzana Catherine Hébert Jeanne Mukamusoni Seana Pasic Flor de Maria Ramirez Soonjoo Yeo original music Robert M. Lepage sound design Guillaume Boursier sound mix Richard Pelletier |
produced
with the participation of the
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