[VIDEO] And the award goes to: Athlone filmmaker wins kwaai prize for her doccie on changing the narrative of Muslim women
RECOGNITION: Thaakirah Behardien, 30, won entry to the Free Film School
A Cape Flats woman has scooped an award for the best emerging filmmaker in the country.
Athlone’s pride, Thaakirah Behardien, 30, has been in the film industry for just over seven years.
She entered the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival with her doccie, titled An-Nisaa, meaning the women in Arabic.
“The documentary was about looking at three Muslim women in the province and how they use their creative mediums to push back against stereotypes in their communities,” says Thaakirah.
“I followed a visual artist, a social media entrepreneur and a comedian and how they used those mediums to basically talk back at the narrative against the overall image of what Muslim women look like in the media.”
Thaakirah explained to the Daily Voice that she felt she had to change the narrative of Muslim women in the media, film and television.
“My problem is that if you look at the media today particularly, the popular culture, media and television, we are always seen as oppressed and subservient, it’s always extreme.
“There is this belief that a Muslim woman can’t be a creative.
“I don’t think this is a big problem in South Africa because we are free to practise the religion we want and we have freedom. But internationally it is believed that you can’t be a Muslim woman and be a feminist.”
She says it was not easy to get where she is today.
“It took me three years to finish the documentary, because of Covid I had to stop shooting. There were a lot of challenges for me to finish this production.
“There were financial constraints because I had to fund it straight from my own pocket, the equipment I got from UCT. I shot the film on my own and editing was also my responsibility.
“I also had to convince the three subjects to be part of the film, one of them said I was stalking her and she is now happy that I did because of the end result,” she laughs.
Her prize is entry into the Free Film School.
“The prize is a tailored mentorship session with the Free Film School as well as access to their programmes from August to December.”
Thaakirah says she can’t screen An-Nisaa yet as she plans on entering more competitions with it, but people can view the trailer on Instagram @an_nisaadoc.
She says she has shot other films which she has shared on her Instagram account @KirahHeartsFilm.