LOGLINE
‘Beyond Silence’ is a story of vulnerability and resistance telling the stories of Lorina and Mejreme, two courageous survivors of domestic violence, who decide to shatter the silence in Albania and defy the traditional mindset considering gender-based violence a private matter, finding hope and empowerment through a network fighting for change in the country.
LONG SYNOPSIS
‘Beyond Silence’ is a documentary about Lorina and Mejreme, two courageous Albanian women survivors of gender-based violence. Lorina, a polyglot and joyful former university student, and Mejreme, a tireless and tenacious worker, dreamed of raising a happy family but ended up facing the same horror: gender-based violence.
Years of mistreatment physical and psychological abuse, worsened during the pandemic, pushed them to doubt their own perception of reality. Trapped in a spiral of violence, which is rooted in the conservative Albanian mentality, and normalized by a system that by default considers it a private problem, they almost suffered the ultimate sacrifice: losing their own lives.
In their most vulnerable hour, the leading women's organizations in the country and some public servants willing to break with the old mentality complicit with the abuse of women came to their aid. But the night is always darkest before dawn.
Lorina and Mejreme, hand in hand with Doris, a psychologist at CWLG, and Blerta, a WtW lawyer, and their devoted colleagues, begin a delicate and successful healing process through therapeutic sessions and legal actions to reencounter themselves and recover their freedom.
Beyond Silence’ shows how adequate access to information, assistance, and protection improves the lives of women surviving gender-based violence like Lorina and Mejreme, increasing their confidence in the system and also demonstrating how the commitment of civil society and the implication of public servants, is a game changer to break with the culture of violence, building the foundations for a society free of violence.
This documentary film (2024, in English with subtitles in French) will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Claire Sommerville, Lecturer, International Affairs, and Executive Director of the Gender Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute with:
- Representative from the Feminist Collective,
- Ejnxh Pipa, Albanian on site coordinator
The screening is organised by the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative in partnership with IAMANEH; the Gender Centre, The Feminist Collective
