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Gateway to Yemen
| Length: | 40 min |
| Released: | 1991 |
| Ages: |
College Adult |
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This beautifully filmed documentary captures traditional life in rural Yemen which revolves around the search for water. It is a society dominated by men who communally concern themselves with the land, the irrigation of their crops, and their enemies who try to steal both water and possessions. These matters are leisurely discussed while chewing qat, a narcotic leaf that both relaxes and energizes.
The film provides a close-up view of a culture where marriages are arranged, women are veiled and kept separately, and every male is armed. But with the discovery of oil, the outside world is coming to Yemen. Women are being educated in basic hygiene by videotape. Cars are no longer a rarity. Symbolic of these changes is the opening of the city gates, Bab al Yemen, which as little as thirty years ago were closed every night.
The film provides a close-up view of a culture where marriages are arranged, women are veiled and kept separately, and every male is armed. But with the discovery of oil, the outside world is coming to Yemen. Women are being educated in basic hygiene by videotape. Cars are no longer a rarity. Symbolic of these changes is the opening of the city gates, Bab al Yemen, which as little as thirty years ago were closed every night.
Middle East Studies Association, 1994
