Safa Ali

Iman, a simple farmer living in Assiut, Egypt, knew that the story of her struggle would be inspiring for an Egyptian filmmaker. Her journey of struggle in the men's community would turn into a short film that tells the suffering of women farmers as a starting point for a bigger series about the suffering of marginalized women around the world.

The film, bearing its name, came in a gesture of its industry on the importance of its role and strength as a simple farmer who died of her husband and left her boys and girls. While society rejects the role of women as a farmer she refused to obey the "taboos" and resisted all to reach her children to safety.

Women farmers play an important role in the production of world food, but lack access to the same resources as their male counterparts, such as land, finance, markets, tools and training. PepsiCo, the charity arm of a global food and beverage company, (World Organization Against Poverty) drew the attention of the world through a short film competition, in which five-nation content creators took part, in order to finally win Egyptian filmmaker Adia Adel for the best film award, in which Iman's life story was told.


The film is part of a partnership between the two global institutions to address the inequality between men and women in agriculture.

Four communities
The two organizations selected five countries to highlight the lives of women farmers - India, Poland, Guatemala, the United States and Egypt - and contacted the director, who proved to be a success in earlier works, such as her film "Pecia" Ruppaikia "in Egypt.

A 24-year-old graduate from the Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, believes that the work of women and equality between men and women in various fields is an experience that must be monitored through her vision as a director. She believes that the simple experience of Iman, which seeks to provide a decent life for her children, The husband is unique and inspirational and must be monitored and other similar experiences. Faith, like other women in her society, suffers from the lack of acceptance of the Saidi society to which she belongs to the idea of ​​women working in agriculture.

The real surprise and test of the director was her lack of choice for the character of Iman. From the beginning she was chosen by the two supporting institutions. I just sat with her before filming one day. I knew her story. I tried to draw a scenario for one night. For two whole days I tried to express For her sense of what made her impression of that character, for her was not just a normal woman working in the field amid the rejection of my community, but it was a challenge to come out of the film in a manner similar to the strength of her personality.

"Iman" won the vote by 500 votes for the film closest to him, but the award is not material, as the competition was a preliminary to the filming of a larger series on the lives of farm workers globally, and is expected to be filmed later this year.

They taste the world
Women account for nearly half of all agricultural employment in developing countries and work more than 13 hours per week than men, often without training or appropriate tools. Research suggests that if women farmers have the same access to resources as men, they can increase their yields by 20-30%, potentially reducing the number of hungry people in the world.

According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), women in agriculture and rural areas receive less production resources than men, and there is a gender gap in terms of many assets, inputs and services. If it is said that the farmer produces less than men, this is not due to their lack of efficiency, and because of the difference in the use of inputs.