In This Stained Dawn, feminists organize a multi‐city Aurat March (Women’s March) in Pakistan in 2020.

This is no small organizational feat. The documentary captures the drama as Karachi’s feminists come up against Pakistan’s radical religious right and “My body, my choice” becomes a controversial slogan that holds the country’s imagination in its grip.

Filmmaker Anam Abbas follows the march’s organizers as they negotiate this deeply surveilled, paranoia‐inducing, and often physically violent space in the hopes of spurring a revolution.

Observational footage of the event’s planning is mixed with animation, tracing a history of the state suppression of women’s resistance in Pakistan and illuminating the urgency of the unfolding struggle. What emerges is a philosophical work, not just about the Aurat March, but about the act of political organizing itself.

Anam Abbas is a Pakistani‐Canadian filmmaker. This is her debut feature documentary as a director.

In this interview at the Sheffield DocFest on YouTube, she explains how the film came together, why she set out to capture this movement and this moment from multiple perspectives –, and how she hopes the film will be used to feed the movement.

Watch the film’s trailer.

Showings

Thursday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 17 at 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 18 at 3:00 p.m.

To Note

Human Rights Through Film screenings are free for Museum members. 

Complimentary tickets can be reserved by selecting the CMHR Member ticket option on the Cinematheque website or at the theatre’s box office. You will be asked to show your Museum membership card at entry. 

Admission for non‐members is $10. 

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