A screening of Shoaib Mansoor’s Pakistani film “Bol” was presented in UNC Wilmington’s

Morton Hall on February 5th.

The word “bol” is Urdu for “speak.” Urdu is one of Pakistan’s official languages – a

form of Hindustani that is written in Persian script.

UNCW’s Team for Interdisciplinary Global Research (TIGR) chose to show this film

in an effort to “raise awareness for UNCW students about what really goes on in Pakistan,” according to TIGR member Cara Cilano.

Cilano also mentioned that UNCW is partnering with the International Islamic University

Islamabad (IIUI) to increase the professional development skills of students involved and to promote community engagement.

 A group of Pakistani graduate students will be attending UNCW next semester as a result of the partnership. This is another reason why TIGR chose this film.

“Bol” is about a young woman in a large, Muslim family in which the father cannot provide for the household. He holds the women as prisoners, refusing further schooling after 5th grade, and also forcing pregnancy upon his aging wife in attempts to have a son. 

Only after decades of abuse do the women take charge of their lives.

The movie focuses on one of the daughters who is to be hanged.

She speaks out on gender discrimination and violence right before she is killed.

These issues are common in Pakistan because of the religious descriptions of male privilege.

Although it brings much suffering, the practices for treating women this way are socially accepted.

A film of this nature is rare in Pakistan and was created in attempts to spread the message of gender equality