A Woman from Damascus

Director El-Jeiroudi interweaves conversations with the Syrian housewife Manal and an interview with the marketing manager of the Arab Barbie doll Fulla. With these images, El-Jeroudi reveals how in the year 2007, the toiling housewife and the veiled Barbie find themselves in the same predicament. Since its release in 2003, Fulla has become the dream of every Arab girl in the Middle East. "Fulla is a lifestyle, representing all values of Arab parents," claims the marketing manager. Manal shows what this entails: she is at home and takes care of her husband and two daughters. She cooks, cleans and washes. Manal says she would like to work outside the home again, and actually looks for a job. The marketing manager explains how his product has evolved in response to reactions from the market: in newer versions, the (long) underwear can no longer be taken off, because it is cast into the plastic. The breasts are smaller than those of the first generation of Fullas. Slowly the windows towards Manal's individual dreams are closing one by one, until the only window left open to the world is the TV screen in her living room. Her two daughters are watching, mesmerized by the only smiling face. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)