Forbidden Voices

Forbidden Voices describes how Internet access in Cuba is still prohibited for the average citizen, and Internet censorship in China and Internet access in Iran are very harsh, the blogs of the three protagonists are censored, blocked or even shut-down by their governments. Seen by their governments as dissidents the bloggers are often under surveillance and facing harsh repressions. Yoani Sánchez has been beaten and arrested, as well as publicly defamed on Cuban State TV for fighting for human rights in Cuba;{{cite news | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-blogger-idUSTRE7175YG20110208 | title = Cuba unblocks access to controversial blog |work=Reuters | accessdate =February 10, 2011 | date=February 8, 2011}}{{cite web | url= http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/entrevista-manuel-david-orrio-rosario-agente-miguel-seguridad-estado-c | title = Kaos en la red (Chaos on the Web): Interview with State Security Agent Miguel |publisher=Kaos en la Red| language = Spanish | accessdate =March 20, 2009 }}{{cite news | url = http://www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/varg080402.htm | title = Washington Post: Cuban Courage |newspaper=Washington Post| accessdate =March 20, 2009 }}{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2008/06/23/nacional/artic01.html |date=* |title=Granma: Prólogo — Fidel, Bolivia y algo más... }} {{in lang|es}} Retrieved October 17, 2009. Zeng Jinyan lived for years with her husband Hu Jia and her new born daughter under house arrest in Beijing for their fight for human rights in China;[http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/21/china15979.htm/ "Activist Couple Accused of Endangering State Security"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081108061415/http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/21/china15979.htm |date=November 8, 2008 }}. Human Rights Watch, May 21, 2007.Huffington, Arianna (May 14, 2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070505052538/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1615754_1616169,00.html "The Time 100: Zeng Jinyan"]. Time.[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/09/asia/AS-China-Human-Rights.php "Chinese rights activist Zeng Jinyan disappears"]. International Herald Tribune. August 9, 2008. and Farnaz Seifi has been arrested for her fight for gender equality in Iran and forced in to exile.{{Cite web |url=http://globaljournalist.jour.missouri.edu/stories/2013/11/18/female-bloggers-fight-for-freedom-of-speech/ |title=Female Bloggers Fight for Freedom of Speech |date=November 18, 2013 |access-date=March 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402132322/http://globaljournalist.jour.missouri.edu/stories/2013/11/18/female-bloggers-fight-for-freedom-of-speech/ |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.dw.de/popups/pdf/5313313/key-note-von-der-journalistin-farnaz-seifi-internet-und-iranpdf.pdf/ |title=Note von Farnaz Seifi: The local blogosphere and the conflict in Iran , Apr. 15, 2010 |access-date=March 24, 2015 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402101807/http://www.dw.de/popups/pdf/5313313/key-note-von-der-journalistin-farnaz-seifi-internet-und-iranpdf.pdf/ |url-status=dead }}[http://www.amnesty.ch/fr/pays/moyen-orient-afrique-du-nord/iran/docs/2012/farnaz-seifi-blogueuse-en-exil/ "Farnaz Seifi, Exiled Blogger"]. 2012.

The award-winning documentary Forbidden Voices premiered at the 2012 Visions du Réel Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland, and had its International Premiere at IDFA, The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

Awards:

• 2012: WACC-SIGNIS Human Rights Award: Forbidden Voices (Toronto, Canada){{cite web|url=http://www.waccglobal.org/articles/forbidden-voices-wins-wacc-signis-human-rights-award|title=Forbidden Voices: Human Rights Award}}
• 2012: Amnesty International Award (Human Rights Film Festival San Sebastian, Spain): Forbidden Voices {{cite web|url=http://www.cineyderechoshumanos.com/2013/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=15&ide=17831&lang=en |title=Amnesty International Award}}
• 2012: Nomination Swiss Film Prize/Best Documentary: Forbidden Voices{{cite web|url=http://www.schweizerfilmpreis.ch/de/archiv/2013/nominationen/|title=Swiss Film Prize/Best Documentary}}
• 2013: Nomination Prix de Soleure at the Solothurn Film Festival

• "Forbidden Voices is a compelling and deeply disturbing documentary that makes those of us who freely sit at our laptops and type realize how much we take for granted, and how powerful these women's voices are in their repressive societies." (Review by Leah Kolb, Bitch Flicks){{cite web|url=http://www.btchflcks.com/2013/08/documentary-explores-the-forbidden-voices-of-three-female-bloggers.html#.UmFRBijvM6I |title=Review Bitch Flicks }}
• "This is a humbling documentary for a reporter to watch. Following three bloggers whose beat is their government's oppression, we see the extreme lengths they go to tell the world their stories: They bear house arrest, get beaten up by police, live for years in exile. ... Yet despite the misery these women's governments put them through, Forbidden Voices is hopeful: Information can no longer be managed by the state. That's largely because of technology, but equally due to the spirit of women like Sanchez, Farnaz, and Zeng." (Review Forbidden Voices, by Daniel Person, Seattle Weekly){{cite web |url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/946910-129/siff-miller-brian-film-cinema-uptown |title=Review Seattle Weekly |access-date=March 4, 2015 |archive-date=May 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517224458/http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/946910-129/siff-miller-brian-film-cinema-uptown |url-status=dead }}
• "The film opens with blood-curdling screams of Yoani Sánchez. The Cuban blogger fought in February 2010 against an ambush-style arrest by the secret police, and the courageous woman was able to achieve in that critical moment the impossible, namely to operate unnoticed the recording button on her mobile phone. The ugly face of the ubiquitous apparatus of repression in the realm of the Castro brothers who still enjoy in certain circles a residual prestige ("After all, Cuba has a free health and education system for all"), could hardly be shown more impressively then as with this dramatic opening sequence." (Review Forbidden Voices, by Geri Krebs, NZZ){{cite web|url=http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/startseite/langer-weg-mit-drei-mutigen-frauen_1.16801107.html |title=Review Geri Krebs from NZZ }}

• CNN: Forbidden Voices: Female bloggers fight for freedom of speech{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/03/world/world-press-freedom-day-forbidden-voices/|title=Female bloggers fight for freedom of speech (includes video)|website=CNN|date=May 3, 2013}}
• Bitch Flicks: Documentary Explores the Forbidden Voices of Three Female Bloggers {{cite web|url=http://www.btchflcks.com/2013/08/documentary-explores-the-forbidden-voices-of-three-female-bloggers.html|title=Documentary Explores the Forbidden Voices of Three Female Bloggers}}
• Seattle Weekly News: Review of Forbidden Voices{{cite web|url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/946910-129/siff-miller-brian-film-cinema-uptown|title=Seattle Weekly review|access-date=March 4, 2015|archive-date=May 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517224458/http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/946910-129/siff-miller-brian-film-cinema-uptown|url-status=dead}}
• Deutsche Welle (TV): Video summary on Forbidden Voices{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXx30E0aoKQ |title=Video review of Forbidden Voices |website=YouTube }}
• Reporters Without Borders: Forbidden Voices - Film Tribute To Three Exceptional Women Bloggers{{cite web |url=http://en.rsf.org/forbidden-voices-film-tribute-to-09-05-2012,42580.html |title=Reporters Without Borders article |access-date=March 4, 2015 |archive-date=February 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220130143/http://en.rsf.org/forbidden-voices-film-tribute-to-09-05-2012,42580.html |url-status=dead }}
• Women Make Movies: Women Make Movies article on Forbidden Voices{{cite web|url=http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c847.shtml |title=Forbidden Voices: How to Start a Revolution with a Computer}}
• SRF (Swiss TV) article: Forbidden Voices - Forbidden Votes{{cite web|url=http://tvprogramm.srf.ch/details/79b05ad0-3bfd-4d07-ae4a-48b7d301bcf6|title=Forbidden Voices - Forbidden Votes}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{official|url=http://forbiddenvoices.net/en/en-start.html}}
• {{IMDb title|2149692}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c847.shtml|title=Forbidden Voices at Women Make Movies (American distributor)}}

Category:2012 films

Category:Documentary films about human rights

Category:Films about freedom of expression

Category:2012 documentary films

Category:Documentary films about women

Category:Swiss documentary films

Category:Documentary films about the Internet

Category:Films scored by Marcel Vaid