In the Name of the Family

Documentary filmmaker Shelley Saywell specializes in uncompromising films that deal with human rights issues. The death of 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez at the hands of her father in Toronto compelled Saywell to return to familiar territory: the murder of teenage girls by their families. Originally filming at Aqsa's vigil, where her school friends came to mourn, Saywell learned of the deaths three weeks later of teenage sisters Amina and Sarah Said, who were shot to death by their father in Dallas. Horrifyingly, only five months passed before 19-year-old Fauzia Mohammed, of Rochester, NY, was stabbed multiple times by her brother. She survived to tell her story. IN THE NAME OF THE FAMILY examines the tensions between girls living in North America and their conservative families who were brought up in South Asia or the Middle East. The threat of violence known as honor killing is still frighteningly real for many girls today. As we meet the friends and family of the victims – and those afraid they might become victims – we enter a closed world where girls sometimes fall prey to the men they love most. –B.B.