Desert Brides

2008 • Directed by

Ada Ushpiz

Documentary

My Happiness, Her Misery

This is the story of three Bedouin women, struggling within a polygamous system. Living in the Negev desert in Israel, the story is told through the eyes of a wedding photographer, Mariam Al-Quader. She herself is living under constant fear that her husband will marry "over her" (the expression used when a man chooses an additional wife). The other two women are pushed into marrying already married men, and become "second wives", forced to cooperate within a structure they despise or are afraid of.