In support of International Women’s Day on March 8, philanthropist Shiela C. Johnson has partnered with Fathom Events, CARE, ONE, and the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women to produce a unique nation-wide town-hall event on Thursday, March 5, called A Powerful Noise Live.  The event includes a screening of the 90-minute documentary A Powerful Noise, followed by a simulcast panel discussion including Madeleine Albright, Christie Turlington, Natalie Portman, and others.  (The panel discussion will be taped for the Pacific time zone.)

So I’m telling you, guys: impress the heck out of your wife, and do her a huge favor.  Even though times are tough, hire a babysitter, buy a couple of tickets, and take her to participate in this event.

Just make sure you’re well rested.

The premise behind A Powerful Noise is that women can be a dynamic, positive force in the world by constructively raising their voices in their communities.  In many ways, they can be far more effective than men, because there’s nothing quite like the impassioned plea of a host of women.  Witness, for instance, the social change wrought in America’s suffrage movement, or through the protests of both Christian and Muslim women that ended violence in Liberia (documented in the recent film Pray the Devil Back to Hell).

A Powerful Noise makes the general case not by argumentation but by highlighting three specific instances of such constructive activism.  In the African nation of Mali, “Madame Urbain” founded and heads APAF, an organization that educates illiterate women who migrate from the countryside to the city of Bamako in search of employment—and usually end up being taken advantage of in various ways.  In Vietnam, Bui My Hanh—who herself became HIV-positive through her now-deceased drug-addict husband—founded and operates Immortal Flower, an AIDS-awareness support group that works to de-stigmatize the disease in an effort to stem its spread.  In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nada Markovic founded Maya Kravica to heal the wounds between Muslims and Serbs in the wake of the Serbian genocide—through agricultural co-ops, which today brings women together in unified economic vitalization projects.

Director Tom Cappello, whose body of work includes short documentaries for The History Channel and National Geographic Explorer, subtly and sumptuously weaves a three-stranded tale of oppression, organization, and victory.  In the early going, we are introduced to the major issues confronting these women—illiteracy and poverty, HIV and AIDS, the aftermath of civil war—and how they and their communities have been devastated by these conditions.  He then leads us through the ways in which Jacqueline, Hanh, and Nada have elevated their personal struggles to the community level.  In the triumphant final third of the film, Cappello highlights the positive impacts these women have had as a result of raising their voices.

Sadly, I was a bit put off by the rather self-aggrandizing and misanthropic tone of Urbain’s return visit to her home town.  While I certainly agree that women can achieve things that men could never hope to, the converse is also true—and men are not only good for conflict, violence, and oppression.  Urbain has kind enough words for her own father, who saw the value in educating his daughter; but I felt sorry for the other emasculated men in Urbain’s home town, even though they probably deserved some upbraiding.  One of the major obstacles, frankly, for liberated women is being able to show grace and mercy in victory.  This, at the very least, is a challenge for both sexes.

The pace of the film also struck me as fairly slack.  Cappello eschews voiceovers in favor of interspersed titling; but I found the effect soporific.  I think the material would have been better served by the voice of a strong woman such as Holly Hunter, Sigourney Weaver, or Alfre Woodard.

But I’m also sure that I’m not the film’s ideal audience—which is women, who will undoubtedly be profoundly moved by the communal experience of sharing this fine and worthy film with a host of others… and, hopefully, with their husbands, partners, and lovers.

I strongly advocate helping make this world a slightly better place by participating in this once-in-a-blue-moon event.

Information about A Powerful Noise Live can be found at www.apowerfulnoise.org. Presumably, the film will also be available for purchase on DVD in the near future.

A Powerful Noise is not rated, but is easily G material.  Nonetheless, I don’t recommend watching this film with children, who will be far too squirmy for the enjoyment of the parental units!

Courtesy of Fathom Events, Greg screened a promotional DVD of A Powerful Noise.