Khadija al-Salami

Khadija al-Salami was born in Sanaa in 1966 (during the civil war in northern Yemen) in a poor Muslim family. At the age of 11, her uncle Ali al-Salami forced her to marry his acquaintance, a man several times older than her ^[2] . Despite her mother’s uncle’s assurances that the girl’s marriage would remain purely “economic” until her 14th birthday, Khadija immediately after the wedding underwent several weeks of sexual violence ^[1] , attempted suicide and eventually ran away from her husband ( according to other descriptions, the husband himself returned her to the guardian, tired of her resistance). Traditionally, considering this as a “shame to the family,” most of her family (except for her mother, who had been married at an earlier age), renounced the girl.

Not having family support and not having a special opportunity to rely on the mother (alone raising several other children), the girl was looking for work to earn a living. On the recommendation of a friend, she tried on a local studio, where they were looking for a young leader for a children's television program. Having won the casting, Khadija from 1977 to 1982 combined her studies at school in the mornings with day and night work on television ^{[1] [2]} , first in the children's sector, and then in the news. ^[four]

At the age of 16, Khadija al-Salami won a scholarship to study in the United States of America ^[1] , where she graduated from high school, and in 1983 she entered the in Washington , DC , receiving a bachelor of communications degree by 1986 ^{[1 ] [4]} . During her studies, she met and became friends with Yemeni Ambassador to the United States Yahya al-Mutawakil. This friendship later helped her meet a number of influential politicians in Yemen and become his in his diplomatic corps.

Returning to Yemen with a diploma, Khadija did not hold back there for a long time because of friction with her family, having moved to France in the same year, where in 1987-1988 she worked in the Yemeni embassy as a public relations officer ^[4] . Later, she continued her second degree at the American University in Washington. Her work for the Master of Arts degree in film and television production was the documentary “Women in Yemen”, in the production of which she performed at the same time as a director, cameraman and editor ^[4] .

In 1990, she married the American journalist Charles Huth ^[1] , returning with him to France, where Khadija worked for Radio Orient-Paris, and since 1993 also in newspaper journalism. Since 1994, she continued working at as press attaché and cultural attaché ^{[2] [3] [4]} , as well as the head of the information center at the embassy ^[1] .

In parallel with diplomatic work, she continued cinematic work, creating several dozen documentaries and educational films ^[2] for various TV channels and universities in France and the USA ^[4] . Many of her works are somehow connected with the position of a woman in an Islamic society ^{[1] [3]} . In 2012, she left diplomatic work to focus on cinema and documenting the Muslim women's movement ^{[5] [6]} .

She was a jury member at several film festivals ^[4] .

In 2013, with the help of her husband, she published her autobiography entitled The Tears of Sheba ^[1] .

For her creative and diplomatic activity she was awarded a number of awards, in particular:

• In 2005 - nominated for the Youth Prize of the Asian Film Festival in Wesoul (France) for the film Les femmes et la démocratie au Yémen (2003);
• In 2006 - she won the youth prize of this festival for the film Une étrangère dans sa ville (2005) and was awarded the silver prize of the International Film Festival in Dubai in the category “Best Documentary Film” for the film Amina (2006);
• In 2007 she was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor by the French government ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} ;
• In 2011 she was awarded the Order of Arts and Literature by the Ministry of Culture and Communications of France ^{[2] [4] [7]} ;
• In 2014 - awarded the International Film Festival in Dubai in the category “Best Feature Film” for the tape I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced .

• 1991 - Hadramaout: Crossroads of Civilizations
• 1994 - Le pays suspendu
• 1995 - Women of Islam
• 1997 - Land of Sheba
• 2000 - Yemen of a Thousand Faces
• 2003 - Les femmes et la démocratie au Yémen / Women and Democracy in Yemen (documentary) - director, screenwriter, sound director
• 2005 - Une étrangère dans sa ville / A Stranger in Her Own City (short documentary) - director, screenwriter, sound producer
• 2006 - Amina - director, scriptwriter, producer, cameraman

The film is based on a real case of a woman who was married at an early age, accused of murdering her husband and sentenced to death, postponed until the end of breastfeeding of her child. Khadija al-Salami not only made a film about the fate of Amina, but also obtained from the President of Yemen, Ali Saleh, a pardon for her. ^[2]

• 2010 - Destructive Beast (documentary) - director, screenwriter, producer
• 2012 - Al Sarkha / The Scream (documentary) - director, screenwriter, cameraman
• 2013 - Killing Her Is a Ticket to Paradise (documentary) - director, screenwriter, producer, cameraman
• 2014 - I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced (feature film) - director, screenwriter, cameraman

• Khadija al-Salami (Eng.) On the Internet Movie Database
• Khadija Al-Salami, Charles Hoots. The Tears of Sheba: Tales of Survival and Intrigue in Arabia . - Thistle Publishing, 2013. - 360 p. - ISBN 9781909869004 . (unavailable link) ( autobiography )
• Priyanka Dasgupta. Yemen director backs Muslims living in Paris (English) . The Times of India (18 November 2015). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Deborah Young. 'I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced': Dubai Review (Eng.) . The Hollywood Reporter (December 15, 2014). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Liz Shackleton. I Am Nojoom, Nearby Sky win top awards at DIFF (Eng.) . Screen Daily (16 December 2014). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Meenakshi Shedde. Narrowing the Gulf (eng.) . The Hindu (December 22, 2014). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• 6ème édition du Festival International film de Dakhla: Hommage à deux réalisateurs et deux acteurs (Fr.) . L'Opinion (23 novembre 2015). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Jim quilty. 'I Am Nojoom': The villainy of poverty and ignorance (English) . The Daily Star (Lebanon) (18 December 2014). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Florence Besson. Qui est Khadija Al-Salami? La féministe qui se bat contre les mariages forcés au Yémen (Fr.) . Elle (27 mai 2015). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Hermeni filmmaker . Arab News (April 3, 2013). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Caroline Farstad Søvik, Sonja Ystaas. Slik kom hun seg ut av tvangsekteskapet: Khadija (45) slo hodet i veggen til hun besvimte (Norwegian) . TV 2 (April 17, 2015). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Sébastien Jédor. La cinéaste Khadija al-Salami combat le mariage des enfants au Yémen (Fr.) . Radio France Internationale (8 juin 2015). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Charlotte Boitiaux. 'I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced' tackles tradition (English) . France 24 (June 10, 2015). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Laurence Bézaguet. L'exemplaire combat d'une fillette qui obtient ... son divorce! (fr.) (4 mars 2015). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Gloria Sabatini. Spose bambine. Al Pantheon le nozze: lei ha 10 anni, lui 50. Ma è una fiction (ital.) . (26 ottobre 2015). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Jumana Khamis. Yemeni film-maker highlights of women's suffering (English) . Gulf News (8 February 2013). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• Khadija Al Salami (Eng.) . Tiburon International Film Festival. The appeal date is November 29, 2015.
• . YEMEN: A Yemeni woman's fight for freedom (Eng.) . The Middle East magazine (2006). The appeal date is November 29, 2015.