Live Containers (Orzu Sharipov/2002/26 min./video) elicited the most visceral reaction with his film concerning drug trafficking. Desperate women become conduits for drugs and were arrested and tried, while drug lords were left to continue their trade, seemingly benefiting government coffers by their work. The film intentionally fell short of exposing government corruption, but has been used as an educational tool in Tajikistan, prompting some changes, including shorter sentences and amnesty for some of the women involved.

Hack Workers (Furkat Yavkalkhodzhaev/2002/20 min./video) portrayed two female Uzbeki day-cleaners trying to break out of institutionalized inequality. One woman, who lost custody of her children in her divorce and visits them surreptitiously, steadfastly refuses the sexual advances that often come with day work from wealthy men clients. The other woman, who is originally raped while on a job, succumbs to prostitution and has lost the will to live. Director Furkat Yavkalkhodzhaev, who attended the evening program, said he talked to one thousand women to get his two stories. He challenged the world to be tolerant, to understand the circumstances that led these two protagonists to their fates and to work for more economic opportunities for women. In response to a question from the audience, panelists agreed that in some ways women lived a more equal life under the Soviet Union's strict economic order than after its collapse, when women became victims of old prejudices.

In contrast, Red Butterflies Where Two Springs Merge (Gaukhar Sydykova and Dilia Ruzieva/2002/14 min./video) is a lovely portrayal of an elderly Kyrgyzstan woman who has become somewhat famous having been featured in western women's magazines for her folk-art felt rugs. She is the unlikely breadwinner of the family and her husband is in charge of their children and farm duties. Her husband, in contrast, seems lost due to the community's stereotyped expectations.

Silk Patterns (Uranchimeg Nansalmaa/2003/26 min./video) refers to the many silk dresses that are worn by Mongolia's graduating classes, which are surprisingly 80% female. Due to a unique cultural pattern, young girls in that country receive a university diploma while the young boys become sheep and livestock herders. The resulting disparity leaves these educated young women unable to find husbands that are their intellectual equals. Many leave Mongolia to find husbands in nearby countries but must often settle for a job there that is below their intellectual capacity. Those who stay in Mongolia are often frustrated that economic opportunities are too limited.

Films shown November 11 at Open Society Institute:

Wishing for Seven Sons and One Daughter -Azerbaijan (Ali-Isa Djabbarov/2002/26 min./video)
Beauty of the Fatherland - Estonia (Jaak Kilmi and Andres Maimik/2001/51 min./video)
Invisible - Georgia (Liana Jakeli/2003/26 min./video)
Tomorrow Will Be Better? - Lithuania (Monika Juozapaviciute/2003/39 min./video)
Power: Feminine Gender - Ukraine (Nina Rudik and Vlad Gello/2003/22 min./video)