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SHADOWS OF A LEADER

This documentary investigates the phenomenon of Qaddafi's elite female bodyguard corps and the tensions these women embody: tensions between Islam, modernization in a nomadic society, militarist feminism and an urban dictatorship. What sort of life do these women lead, what is their political position, and how has it evolved?

The female guards in Libya are unique as modern Islamic women that challenge Western stereotypes of the repressed Arab female. Using original and archival footage, and being the first to be allowed access to sites and persons in Libya, this two-year effort goes beyond existing representations of the Muslim woman by elucidating and criticizing a complicated ideal of a modern day Amazon warrior.

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