This feature-length documentary delves into a complex reality, that of the forced confinement of women in their own homes from the time they reach puberty. At the age of 19, Nadia Zouaoui's parents forced her into an arranged marriage with an Algerian man twice her age. Living in Montreal, he had chosen her from a photo. After an 18-year absence, Nadia Zouaoui returns to her native Kabylia to see if things have changed.
"Islam of my childhood" is like of road movie that deciphers the devastating impact of political Islam on culture and religious traditions in Algeria. The country that has experienced the worst of Islamist terrorism with its "dark decade" and its 200,000 victims has shocked us with the testimony of citizens. They recount the dramas experienced, their resistance and their questions about the deep meaning of their faith in the face of the suffocating diktats and the murderous excesses of fundamentalism and the dictatorship in place. These people paved the way for the new Algerian revolution today!
Imane is a 26-year-old woman who writes a feminist blog in a country where women are viewed as minors for life. Threats and adversity have never prevented her from decrying loud and clear the injustices that have kept women in submission in her country, Algeria. My virtual friend who was telling me about her fights and her life for the last four years was found dead in her apartment in 2019. This film is a posthumous gift to Imane; a way to repair this cruel twist of fate. Her struggles and sacrifices cannot be in vain!
