Alaa Al-Eryani

Alaa Al-Eryani (born 1990) is a filmmaker, photographer, writer, and feminist activist from Yemen.[1]

Life

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Born in Egypt, Al-Eryani was brought up in Sanaa. After gaining a degree in digital film and television from Limkokwing University, she returned to Yemen in 2012. In April 2013 Al-Eryani founded the Yemeni Feminist Movement, a project on Facebook and Twitter, and has subsequently faced threats for her promotion of women's rights.[2]

In 2013 Al-Eryani was one of the first to write on the case of Nada al-Ahdal, the ten-year-old girl who uploaded a short YouTube video complaining that she was being forced into a marriage contract. She emphasised the difference in attitudes between rural and urban areas:

If you go to a small village, they would tell you that she's crazy for running away from her parents, if you go to these villages, eight-year-olds are being married… Here in the city, where people are generally more educated and aware, they would tell you that it shouldn't happen.[3]

Filmography

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Al-Eryani has directed two short films, Insight (2011) and Broken (2016).

References

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  1. ^ Benjamin Wiacek, Meet a Yemeni Feminist, La Voix du Yemen, 12 May 2013. Republished Fair Observer, 26 October 2013. Accessed 14 March 2020.
  2. ^ Helle Duus Alex, Ambassador Yemen Archived 2020-01-28 at the Wayback Machine, SistaEnable. Accessed 20 March 2020.
  3. ^ Abubakr al-Shamahi, Girl's online plea highlights plight of Yemen's child brides, BBC News, 26 July 2013. Accessed 14 March 2020.
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