3.9 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 19 July 2024
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Xinjiang Province, China. Uyghur student, Nur, is able to 'pass' as Han Chinese, and exploits this as much as possible in a society where Uyghur people live under constant surveillance.
Nur and her mother, Meryem, want to avoid being sent to one of the re-education prison camps, where it is thought a million people - mostly Uyghur - have been detained without trial. But then they are assigned a live-in Chinese 'relative' by the authorities - Auntie Wang Shu - who comes to stay in their apartment as part of a Family Week initiative to ensure lifestyle conformity: "Cook together, eat together, study together, travel together, sleep together!"
But Wang Shu has other motives, which involve marrying her son to a Uyghur woman. And she has Nur in her sights as a prime candidate. Any missteps by Nur or Meryem could result in their being sent into re-education. But will Nur play by the rules?
A fictional story inspired by real accounts. Writer Avin Shah has drawn on testimonies from the 2021 independent Uyghur Tribunal (chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, chief prosecutor on the trial of Slobodan Milošević) and on research by Raminder Kaur, Professor of Anthropology and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex, who served on the tribunal, as well on interviews with other Uyghur and Chinese cultural and political consultants.
Nur......Aruhan Galieva
Meryem.....Camilla Anvar
Guard and various other roles.....Daniel York Loh
Other members of the cast have chosen to remain anonymous.
It was a BBC Audio Wales production, directed by Emma Harding.
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0:00.0 | Open the door to true crime podcasts on BBC Sounds. |
0:06.3 | The atrocity of it is beyond. |
0:09.4 | Everybody was terrified. |
0:11.2 | Secrets that lurk right under your gaze. |
0:14.0 | I'm starting to wonder what on earth I've got myself into. |
0:18.0 | And stories where the next twist could be just up your street. |
0:22.0 | She said, here, Shirley surely take the dog next being shot |
0:25.5 | unearth them all crime next door lesson on BBC sounds |
0:36.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. This is Drama of the Week. |
0:39.0 | This week is Family Week by Avon Shah tells the story of a Uyghur Muslim mother and daughter, living |
0:45.9 | in Xinjiang province China, where there is a pervasive network of surveillance. |
0:51.7 | Human rights groups believe that China has detained more than 1 million |
0:54.4 | Uyghurs against their will in so-called re-education camps and say that the |
0:59.8 | Chinese government is trying to eradicate Uyghur culture. In this drama, |
1:05.0 | Nore and Merriam are about to receive an unwelcome lodger. |
1:10.0 | This week is Family Week by Avin-Cha. |
1:17.0 | Avin-Cha. So, lipstick, contact lens solution. Powerbank, tampons, wallet, mirror, condoms. |
1:33.7 | I've got a sworn it was in here. |
1:35.3 | No, you're not listening. |
1:37.2 | You have to queue up over there. |
1:38.9 | See the sign? |
1:39.9 | Where the hell is my card? |
... |
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