‘Resistance is a girl that changes the world’: stream performances celebrating feminist activists from Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Image: Giuvlipen via Facebook
10 March 2021
Text:
Paula Erizanu
Feminist Roma-Romanian theatre Giuvlipen has launched a video series that tells the stories of women activists in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Part of the global project Stories of Girls’ Resistance, the 12 episode series combines drama, pop music, rap, spoken word, and poetry, and has been publicised in Romania with the slogan — “Resistance is a girl that changes the world’.
Launched on International Women’s Day earlier this week, the first episode tells the story of Kyrgyz activist Saltannat, who organised the first women’s march in her hometown of Osh in 2016. She wanted to raise awareness on women’s struggles, and the origins of the holiday — which in Kyrgyzstan, like in many other former socialist countries, is often celebrated as an occasion for gift-giving, rather than an opportunity to fight for equality. Saltannat’s story is told and sung by the semifinalist of Romania’s The X Factor, Andra Barangă.
“Diving into these real stories gives me courage as a woman, as a Roma person, as an artist, as someone who carries on fighting,” Giuvlipen co-founder Mihaela Drăgan, who also wrote the scripts for the series, told The Calvert Journal. “The fact that I know that there is a girl in Buryatia or Bosnia, who fights with all of her passion and love in order to build a better and more just world, gives me hope. I hope that I managed to honour the stories of these young women, and that they will reach people who need to hear them.”
The episodes will be released on a fortnightly basis in March, and each week from April onwards.
Follow the series on Giuvlipen’s Facebook page, Instagram, or Youtube channel.
