(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)November 14, 2011

(MAHWAH, NJ) – On November 14 and December 9, respectively, the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in cooperation with the Human Rights and Genocide Studies Minor of Ramapo College screened two films, Women in War Zones and Grandma’s Tattoos, that delve into sexual abuse and bondage of women in genocide.

Women in War Zones tells the story of two young women, Helene and Bijoux, who are being treated for the attacks they suffered at the hands of the notorious Interahamwe militia, who after having helped perpetrate the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 preyed on the refugees fleeing into neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They are among the thousands of women who have been raped and mutilated in the DRC , even after the peace agreement signed in 2003. Helene and Bijoux are seen being treated at Panzi Hospital, a special facility that is nestled in the hills along the Rwandan and is the last hope for many of Congo’s victims of sexual violence. The two women become sisters during their time of treatment at Panzi hospital, and they support each other in their fight and struggle to maintain hope and a sense of dignity as they come to grips with their violent and tragic past. Marie Targonski-O’Brien, Assistant Manager of Women in War Zones, introduced the film and took questions, after the screening.

The film project has spawned a movement that seeks to implement programing in war zones across the globe, primarily in communities where there are clear and legitimate injustices occurring against women and children. As of now, it has concentrated its efforts around the Panzi community, serving women in the South Kivu province. It all started with Scott Blanding, his best friend Brad LaBriola and his sister Melanie Blanding travelling to Congo in the summer of 2006 to do a film about the rape-crisis plaguing Congo.

Screening of Grandma’s Tattoos

Grandma’s Tattoos is a personal film about what happened to many Armenian women during the genocide. It is a ghost story-with the ghosts of the tattooed women haunting us-and a mystery film, where many taboos are broken. As no one wants to tell the real and whole story, and in order to bring the pieces of the puzzle together, the director, Suzanne Khardalian, makes us move between different times and space, from today’s Sweden to her childhood home in Beirut. The viewer is taken on a journey into the secrets of the family.

Eventually, Khardalian’s mother reveals the secret behind Grandma Khanoum’s blue marks. “Grandma was abducted and kept in slavery for many years somewhere in Turkey. She was also forcibly marked-tattooed-as property, the same way you mark cattle. Grandma Khanoum’s fate was not an aberration. On the contrary, tens of thousands of Armenian children and teenagers were raped and abducted and kept in slavery. Although after World War I, U.S. and European missionary and aid groups rescued over 90,000 of these victimized Armenian young girls and children, the film makes clear that the ordeal for these survivors of genocide did not end there.

Suzanne Khardalian

Suzanne Khardalian is an independent filmmaker and writer. She studied journalism in Beirut and Paris and worked as a journalist in Paris until 1985, when she started to work on films. She also holds a master’s degree in international law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and contributes articles to different journals. She has directed more than 20 films that have been shown both in Europe and the U.S. They include Back to Ararat (1988), Unsafe Ground (1993), Her Armenian Prince (1997), From Opium to Chrysanthemums (2000), Where Lies My Victory (2002), I Hate Dogs (2005), and Young Freud in Gaza (2009).

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