Educational Media Reviews Online

The Virgin Diaries is an intimate, personal documentary made by independent film producer/director, Jessica Woodworth. The movie's protagonist is her friend, Fatiha, a young Moroccan woman conflicted over questions of virginity, marriage, sex and Islam. This is a serious "road movie" without the levity of Hope and Crosby.

Fatiha and Jessica journey all over Morocco with a portable camera, questioning Islamic religious leaders and ordinary people about marriage, Islam, sex and virginity. Their travels take them from ancient Islamic schools to Saharan camel markets, to resort beaches and doctors' offices. Near the film's end, the documentary takes an unusual and tragic turn when Fatiha falls in love with an Iranian refugee during a brief journey to Germany.

This is a limited budget documentary (handheld camera shots predominate) by a talented independent director. Most of the time either Jessica Woodworth or Fatiha are operating the camera. In one Mosque sequence, a young religious pupil is shown carrying their tripod.

Much of this amateur camera work was not distracting, and added to the "cinema verite" style of the work. The color and picture quality are excellent. The sound is clear and the soundtrack's ethnic music is both unobtrusive and appropriate. However, there is some rough editing in the interview with the doctor explaining the repair of a woman's damaged hymen. Moreover, in some film segments, the English subtitles trailed off the screen, and could not be clearly read.

Nevertheless, The Virgin Diaries is an important movie for understanding contemporary Islam and traditional Middle Eastern cultures. The issue of a women's virginity before marriage is taken very seriously in the Middle East. Parental approval is also generally required for daughters to marry.

This informative video would be useful in both women's studies and religious studies classes. Highly recommended.