Three Amazing Women Create A Powerful Noise In Extraordinarily Beautiful Film

A Powerful Noise is an extraordinary film with a simple yet compelling message: empowering women changes communities for the better.

My own corollary to that message is this: changing communities for the better is the first step toward changing the world.

Considering the less-than-ideal situation in which many of us find ourselves, that can only be a good thing. This inspirational movie shows how three women, in three different countries, make a difference in their communities.

The tender, touching and beautifully filmed documentary A Powerful Noise tells the tragic, yet also achingly hopeful stories of Bui My Hahn, a Vietnamese AIDS prevention advocate who is herself HIV positive, Nada Markovic, a Bosnian war survivor turned community activist, and Jacqueline Dembele (aka Madame Urbain), who fights forced labor practices and illiteracy in the slums of Bamako, Mali.

The DVD jacket sums up A Powerful Noise thus:

Three very different lives. Three vastly different worlds. But they have one thing in common. Power.

These ordinary women overcome deep-seated gender barriers to rise up and claim a voice in their societies. Through their own empowerment and the ability to empower others, Hanh, Nada and Madame Urbain spark remarkable and unprecedented changes.

They fight AIDS. Rebuild communities. Educate girls.

Through deeply personal verite-style narratives, A Powerful Noise explores the lives of these three amazing women, bearing witness their daily challenges and their significant victories over poverty and oppression.

While their three stories are uniquely personal, millions of marginalized women worldwide face similar struggles every day.

The three women, and their stories, are surely as described.

But what this précis fails to capture is the breathtaking beauty of the film’s cinematography, the deeply emotional awakening that it creates in the viewer (or at least it did in me!), and the rich tapestry of three stories skillfully interwoven by sensitive and artful filmmakers.

Imaginative camera angles, interesting transitions between scenes and stories, vibrant colours superbly captured, creative editing and a wonderfully crafted musical score makes A Powerful Noise a delight to experience.

It’s as much testament to excellence in filmmaking, as it is to the quiet determination of three amazing women to live gloriously meaningful lives. Just take a look and the trailer to see what I mean.

Here’s the trailer:

Here’s where you can order the DVD (honestly, it’s fabulous, please treat yourself to this beautiful film, Susan)