January 31, 7:30PM
MARKET HALL PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE, 140 Charlotte St, Peterborough
Following the screening of Writing Hawa, don’t miss this powerful performance and Q&A.
The play Silent Women is a poetic and symbolic narrative of oppression, enforced silence, and women’s resistance. A lone woman, accompanied by chains, empty chairs, and shattered mirrors, recounts the painful history of deprivation from voice, education, work, and freedom.
The chairs symbolize external and internal powers marked by betrayal, while the mirrors reflect fragments of women’s broken identities. In the end, by releasing the chain and keeping a small flame alive, the woman evokes hope and resilience: women may have been silenced, but they have not been erased, and the light of resistance is still alive.
Saba Sahar Zaki is an Afghan-Canadian artist, filmmaker, and human rights activist, born in Kabul in 1971. She began her artistic career at the age of 11 at the National Theatre of Afghanistan and later received formal training in cinema. She has worked extensively as an actor, writer, and director in film and theatre, with over 30 feature and television films and more than 50 full-length and short theatrical productions.
She founded Saba Film, which in 2003 became the first officially licensed film institution in Afghanistan led by a woman. In 2004, she was recognized as the first female Afghan filmmaker by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Youth, and Information and Culture. Two of her films, Life in the Shop and Special Women, have received awards at international film festivals.
Alongside her artistic career, she served as a professionally trained police officer and has been an active human rights defender, particularly advocating for the rights of women and children. After an armed attack intended to assassinate her, she was forced to leave Afghanistan and now lives in Canada. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law.