On the occasion of the BiblioWeekend 2023, a weekend dedicated to libraries throughout Switzerland, whose theme is "Setting Sail", the film Thy Womb by Brillante Ma Mendoza is being screened in the MEG auditorium. This year at the MEG, various events highlight the Sama people (Southeast Asia), the dominant ethnic group of the Tawi-Tawi islands in the Philippines.

Shaleha Sarail hails from a water-village in Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi. The province is a seaweed producing area in the southernmost part of the Philippines down to the Malaysian and Indonesian archipelagos.
A woman of mature years, experiencing a 3rd miscarriage, Shaleha agonizes that she can’t bear a child. Though an adoptive parent to her nephew, she still feels that her husband Bangas An desires to be a father.
To fulfill her husband’s only wish and to be blessed by Allah as having a child is atangible proof of divine grace, Shaleha decides to march to a different drummer. Her resolve is to find a new partner for her husband. Night and day, she and her husband sail island, floating-village, and nearby communities in search of a fertile woman.
As a film, Thy Womb reflect Tawi-tawi’s apparent state: geographically stunning but socio-politically wanting.
.Film in VO with English subtitles. Recommended age: 14 years.

Warning trigger : this film deals with the subject of miscarriage and may offend the sensibilities of those concerned.