Ráday Salon

NO! The Rape Documentary screening at Central European University this Tuesday

This Tuesday, as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, the Human Rights Initiative at Central European University will be screening the award-winning documentary, NO! The Rape Documentary by Michael's daughter, Aishah Shahidah Simmons.

Eleven years in the making, NO! explores the international reality of rape and other forms of sexual assault through the first person testimonies, scholarship, spirituality, activism and cultural work of African Americans. Since its official release in 2006, NO! has been screened and distributed to racially and ethnically diverse audiences at film festivals, community centers, colleges/universities, high schools, correctional facilities, rape crisis centers, battered women shelters and conferences throughout the United States, France, Spain, Rwanda, Kenya, Nepal, South Africa, Jordan, Burkina Faso, Peru and Mexico.

The screening will be followed by a discussion/question-and-answer period hosted by our own Michael Simmons, who served as Creative Adviser on the film.

**Please remember, the location for this event is NOT our Salon, but rather Central European University.**

Join us Tuesday, December 9, for the screening of NO! at Central European Unversity:
Time: 6:15pm
Location: Bp. V., Nador utca 9

For much more on the film, you can read posts on our blog related to previous screenings at the Raday Salon or visit the film website at http://notherapedocumentary.org/ .

Facebook users:  join the NO! screening on Facebook here!

As for our next official Salon event, it will be held Thursday, December 18th,so save the date!  More details coming soon....

16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women

Tuesday, November 25, 2008 begins the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women, an international campaign which unites efforts around the world to combat violence against women.  In Budapest, a series of events have been planned by a coalition of civil society organizations, including Amnesty International, the Human Rights Initiative (HRSI), and NANE Women's Rights Association. The campaign was launched with a press conference and march this past Sunday.

The 16 Days campaign was first established in1991 through the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership. The choice of the 16 days is meant to highlight gender violence as a violation of human rights, and encompasses several significant dates, including:

• the International Day Against Violence Against Women (November 25)
• World AIDS Day (December 1),
• the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre (December 6, 1989; when 4 men and 24 women at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, were shot, 14 of them fatally, by a man raging against "feminism"); and
• Human Rights Day (December 10). 

For more on the history of the 16 Days campaign, visit the Center for Women's Global Leadership 16 Days campaign page.

Hungarian speakers can find much more Information about the Budapest events of the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women on the website http://16akcionap.org/.

For English speakers, a comprehensive schedule of events in English can be viewed or downloaded right here:

16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women events schedule - English (MS Word .doc format)

Ráday Salon evening -- NO! -- Thursday 13 March

Dear Friends,

We begin by offering warm and long-overdue greetings to all our Salon friends, old and new. It has been quite a long time since many of you have heard from us. As many of you already know, for family reasons, Michael and Linda returned to the US for an extended period several months ago. In that time we have sorely missed Budapest, our friends, and our Salon. Finally, however, your Salon hosts are almost all the way back – that is to say, Michael is back in Budapest, and Linda will be joining him in just a few weeks. And even though we're not both back yet, we just couldn't wait to start our Salon evenings back up again!

Given our long absence, we thought we might start things up with one of our most popular events – a showing of Aishah Shahidah Simmons documentary film NO! Some of our Salon friends who have been with us the longest may have seen the film before, perhaps in the earlier, unfinished "rough cut" version. However, we also have developed many new ties with folks who are new to Budapest or just new to our Salon, who have expressed an interest in seeing the film. We would be happy to see both old and new Salon friends at this showing, especially as the discussion is always different and brings up new observations every time we show the film. Even if you have already seen the film we encourage you to invite others you may know who would be interested in the film. And for those of you eager for something new, never fear, we already have plans for more Salon evenings in the works. We are planning a showing of one episode of the civil rights documentary Eyes on the Prize on April 3, and a presentation and discussion on the Philippines for April 24.

In the meantime, without further ado, the Ráday Salon invites you to a commemoration of women's History Month with a showing of the award-winning documentary, NO! by Aishah Shahidah Simmons, on Thursday, 13 March. Eleven years in the making, NO! is a feminist educational organizing tool which is being used in the global movement to end violence against women and children. This groundbreaking documentary explores the international reality of rape and other forms of sexual assault through the first person testimonies, scholarship spirituality, activism and cultural work of African Americans. Winner of an audience choice award and a juried award at the San Diego Women Film festival, NO! also explores how rape is used as a weapon of homophobia.

Since its official release in 2006, NO! has been screened and distributed to racially and ethnically diverse audiences at film festivals, community centers, colleges/universities, high schools, correctional facilities, rape crisis centers, battered women shelters and conferences throughout the United States, Spain, Rwanda, Kenya, Nepal, South Africa, Jordan, Burkina Faso, Peru and Mexico. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center—the comprehensive center for information, research, and emerging policy on sexual violence intervention and prevention in the United States—designated screenings and discussions of NO! in community settings as the Featured Event during their 2007 Sexual Assault Awareness Month Campaign.

For those of you who are new to our Salon, you can find all the information we have posted on previous showings for the film by clicking on NO! in the "Categories" section in the right-hand column of this page. -->

We also have a couple of new items to share with you all.  In February 2008, Michael and Aishah participated in a screening and panel discussion of NO! at the Brecht Forum in New York City.  One of the people who attended is a member of an organization called "SAFER (Students Active for Ending Rape)", an advocacy group in the US which works to improve universities' response to sexual assaults in the campus environment.  After attending the event, she wrote two reaction pieces on the SAFER organization's blog, which you can read here:

NO! A Documentary about Rape
NO! Part 2

And, for the most up-to-date information on NO!, we encourage you to visit the NO! website, at www.notherapedocumentary.org.

Every time we have shown NO!, it has sparked an active and challenging discussion.  We look forward to seeing many of you there!

NO! update: Interview with Aishah

Aishah Shahidah Simmons' groundbreaking film NO! is beginning to enjoy wider and wider exposure.  Listen online or download an interview with the filmmaker on WHYY, the National Public Radio station in Philadelphia (Aishah's hometown) that aired on Thursday, October 12, 2006.(To download, right-click the "download" link and select "Save Target As...")

Upcoming Ráday Salon evening -- Thurs., June 1

The next Ráday Salon will be this Thursday, 1 June, when, as promised, we will be showing and discussing the now-completed documentary film NO! by Aishah Shahidah Simmons.  Most of our Ráday Salon friends have heard us talk about the film, and some of you were able to join us last year for our screenings of the documentary in rough-cut form. (To read more about other Ráday Salon events related to NO!, click the NO! link under "Categories" on the menu to the right. -->)

NO! explores the reality of rape, sexual violence and healing in African American communities and tackles the intersection of sexual violence, oppression and activism.  Though set in the historical uniqueness of the African Americans experience, NO! has resonated with women and men throughout the world. It has touched a particular chord with minority communities in many cultures where women sexual assault survivors are under enormous pressure not to report assaults out of fear that the report will reflect negatively on the group or distract from the "larger goal" of fighting that group's oppression--further marginalizing the women of the group.

   

During the making of NO! various rough cuts were shown to women from a wide range of diverse cultures -- Roma, Arabic, Latin American, African and European. In 2004/5 women activists in France and Italy even translated a 60 minute rough cut into both French and Italian. As we noted below, the film was completed in late 2005, and had its official premiere at the Pan African Film and Arts Festival in Los Angeles in February 2006.  In addition to other US film festivals, NO! is also playing in several international film festivals. It was shown 5-9 May at the TekFestival, Rome Italy, and upcoming festival screenings include the XIV Barcelona International Women Film Festival (June 8-18), the 27th Durban International Film Festival (June 14-25), and the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, Georgia (July 17-23).

We are thrilled to finally be able to screen the completed version of NO!  Not only does the final version now include footage that was missing in the rough cut, but it also incorporates significant changes in structure and style, making the film more energetic and fluid.  We hope that many of you will be able to join us, and please do spread the word!

For more information on the film itself, we invite you to visit the NO! website at http://www.notherapedocumentary.org/.

   

 

World Premiere of NO!

Aishah Shahidah Simmons' powerful documentary film NO! will have its world premiere at the Pan African Film and Arts Festival this month in Los Angeles, California.

Many of you joined us for the screening of NO! in "rough cut" form at Raday Salon on two nights in the spring of last year (read more here and here).  For the past few years, Aishah has been screening the rough cut version to build support for the film as she went into the final stages of production.  Now, after much hard work and dedication, the film is complete, and more intense, amazing, moving, and inspiring than ever.

Please join us in congratulating Aishah on the film's completion, and on the world premiere!

We would also like to invite you to visit the NO! website, http://www.notherapedocumentary.org/, where you can read a note from Aishah on the premiere of NO!, and leave your own note for Aishah in her guestbook.

NO! will be shown at the film festival on Tuesday, February 14th, at 1:05pm, and on Thursday, February 16th, at 7:30pm.  If you know anyone who will be in the Los Angeles area on those dates, please encourage them to take this opportunity to see the film!

And, for those of us in Budapest, don't worry, we will be screening the film the first chance we get :)

Two evenings of "NO!"

In the last few weeks, we have been pleased to be able to share Aishah Shahidah Simmons' documentary "NO!" with at least 40-50 friends in two separate showings -- we added a second showing in response to the many requests we received by people who were unable to attend the first.  (Click here to read our original invitation to this event.)  Both showings stimulated intense and provocative discussion on the ever-present problem of abuse against women.  Though the documentary is centered on the African-American experience, participants, both men and women, from a wide variety of backgrounds responded to the essence of the film's message, reflecting on similar problems within their own cultural milieu.

We have posted photos of both the first showing and the second showing, which you can view by clicking on the links.

We also encourage you to visit the film website at http://www.notherapedocumentary.org/ and to sign the NO! guestbook.  If you were unable to see the film this time, please let us know as we are happy to schedule repeat showings.

"Erotic Mall" in Budapest?

In light of the conversations we were having during our April 7th Salon, regarding whether prostitution should be legalized or not, this news item may be of interest.  A Hungarian developer has planned a shopping center collecting 50 sex-related businesses under one roof, where prostitutes would also be permitted to solicit customers.  For more, see this article in the Budapest Times.

Upcoming Ráday Salon evening - Thurs., April 21

First, a big thank you to those who have joined us in making the salon a success. During the past three salons we have had exciting, engaging conversation and we all have met new people and made new friends. Again, we welcome any ideas and suggestions for future salons.

On Thursday, 21 April the Raday Salon will be showing a 72 minute rough cut of the documentary NO!, by Aishah Shahidah Simmons.  NO! is a groundbreaking documentary that address the controversial topic of intra-racial heterosexual rape and sexual assault in the African American community.  NO! uses testimonials, dramatizations, dance, and poetry to tell the story of women from slavery to contemporary times who have been assaulted, not by strangers but by men who they trusted. Though the context is the African American experience, NO! articulates a universal theme to which people of all ethnicities can relate.

Aishah Simmons, aside from being her proud father's daughter, is an award-winning African American feminist, lesbian, independent documentary filmmaker, television and radio producer, writer, lecturer and activist. Her previous films, such as, Silence....Broken and In My Father's House, explore the issues of race, gender, homophobia, and misogyny.  Aishah's films have been shown and acclaimed around the world, including in Hungary, Croatia, Spain, Mexico, South Africa, Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands.

We hope you will join us for the viewing of NO! and a discussion on this difficult but important topic.  Much much more information on the film and on Aishah's professional activities can be found on her website, http://www.notherapedocumentary.org.

Salon evening, April 7

Many thanks to those of you who were able to join us on April 7^th for our first women’s issues discussion. We had a full discussion, with some new faces and many different voices participating.

Click to view just a few photos of this evening.