Suspended Wives

Documentary, director: Merième Addou, Morocco/Qatar/France, 2021, 73 min., Arab. with En. ST

Double Feature with Tuk-tuk
23.4.2022 | 17.00 | Arsenal |

A calm voice on the radio reads out a list of court summons. They are referring to divorce petitions filed by women whose husbands have abandoned them and disappeared years ago. Now these husbands must appear in court within a month. If they do not comply, their marriage will be automatically dissolved. Latifa, Saadia and Ghita are among these women wanting to divorce the husbands who have left them and their children decades ago. In Suspended Wives, director Merième Addou follows these three women during their fight for their right to divorce in a society that is still firmly anchored in seemingly impenetrable patriarchal structures and colossal bureaucratic obstacles along the way.