TIBI TENDLU: THE DIRT THAT BINDS US

Eswatini 2023 - DCP - 74 minutes, in English and in Sylheti with English subtitles

Director: Mari Gardner with 24 co-directors

Producer: Roee Messenger

Print Courtesy: Flourishing Films

Co-directed by 24 non-filmmakers (mostly women) from the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) along with Mari Gardner and produced by Roee Messenger, whose American Trial: The Eric Garner Story was hugely effective as a standout documentary in 2020. Tibi Tendlu is a participatory, community-based documentary in which the women involved learned how to operate filmmaking equipment to tell the stories of the sexual abuse they experienced. It has the testimonies of dozens of survivors of sexual abuse, and closely follows the uplifting and cathartic journeys of five women who were able to drastically improve their lives by speaking out against traditional patriarchy and injustice, breaking the cycle of abuse. —KE

Eastern U.S. Premiere

Saturday, July 8 3:40PM | MFC 2

Thursday, July 13 3:20PM | MFC 3