In her fight against inequality, Seyran Ates has been shot in the neck, subjected to fatwas and now requires 24-hour police protection. The Turkish-born German activist fought for women's rights as a lawyer, but when she became one of Europe's first female imams and opened a liberal mosque—where unveiled women and men of all sexualities pray together—her brand of feminist umbrage only intensified. Filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen follows the ceaseless Ates as she now works to root out radical Islam from within the religion itself. Fearlessly challenging misogyny and oppression, cameras capture her meeting German sex workers, Uyghur LGBTQ youth and traditional female imams in China, all in an effort to unite faith with courage and increase the visibility of progress. Between sermons and press conferences, Ates shares her most personal life stories and sources of motivation for her work, informing this most thoroughly hopeful portrait of change in motion. Myrocia Watamaniuk
The Changing Face of Europe program presented in partnership with
Seyran Ates: Sex, Revolution and Islam is being presented in partnership with the the Royal Norwegian Embassy
MEDIA COVERAGE
- POV Magazine - "A brilliant tale of resilience, faith and hope"