PRESS CONFERENCE
UMOJA, THE VILLAGE WHERE MEN ARE FORBIDDEN - THE CAVIAR CONNECTION
On Saturday, March 21, 2009 a Press Conference was given by the directors (The caviar connection), Jean Crousillac and Jean Marc Saintclair (Umoja, the village where men are forbidden).
Dragan Nikolic’s film, The caviar connection began, as he said, two years after the 9th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Pitching Forum: “The idea had been there before, but it was only in 2007, through the Pitching Forum that I managed to find finance partners The caviar connection presents the story of the Rat brothers, who are a “legend” in their area, the border between Serbia and Romania. The Rat brothers hunt sturgeon, a fish worth up to 10.000 Euros since caviar is made from its eggs. “The community has unwritten rules which have their own logic. There are fights about who has the right to fish in the ‘disputed areas’ and many times people go to court claiming catches”, Dragan Nikolic noted.
Jean Crousillac and Jean Marc Saintclair went to Kenya to make a film about the village of Umoja, which is a refuge for abused women and in which men are forbidden. It is estimated that from 1970 to 2003, about 1.600 women were raped by British soldiers in Northern Kenya. Women were beaten and then abandoned by their “dishonored” husbands. “In spite of their horrific past , these women warmly welcomed us. The only pressure we received was from the men, when we left the village. The women are not against men. This village is their refuge, there they feel safe. When they get on their feet they can leave the village and have relationships with men”, the two directors said and added: “The community receives help from certain NGOs, but not from the official government, which in fact decided to forbid them from owning animals”.
