(Original Bambara Version - With English Subtitles)
Ousmane Sembene, a writer, social activist, and film director from Senegal, tackles the controversial practice of female circumcision — a difficult and painful subject, but Sembene also expands the film’s vision to include the plight of modern Africa itself. In an African village this is the day when six 4-9-year-old girls are to be circumcised. All children know that the operation is horrible torture and sometimes lethal, and all adults know that some circumcised women can only give birth by Caesarean section. Two of the girls have drowned themselves in the well to escape the operation. The four other girls seek “magical protection” (moolaadé) by a woman (Colle) who seven years before refused to have her daughter circumcised. Moolaadé is indicated by a coloured rope. But no one would dare step over and fetch the children. Moolaadé can only be revoked by Colle herself. Her husband’s relatives persuade him to whip her in public into revoking. Opposite groups of women shout to her to revoke or to be steadfast, but no woman interferes. When Colle is at the wedge of fainting, the merchant takes action and stops the maltreatment. Therefore he is hunted out of the village and, when out of sight, murdered. By the time the issue of what will happen to the girls comes to a head, the viewer has become so involved in the life of this village that the outcome is fraught with tension. We get to witness how customs based on arbitray power hurt both victims and perpetrators. Moolaadé is provocative in the best sense, giving all sides their due before resolving things in a courageous display of solidarity.
Also check out Noire de…, La (Black Girl).
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Sankofa can mean either the word in the Akan language of Ghana that translates in English to “go back and take” (Sanko- go back, fa- take) or the Asante Adinkra symbol. A self-absorbed Black American fashion model on a photo shoot in Africa is spiritually transported back to a plantation in the West Indies where she experiences first-hand the physical and psychic horrors of chattel slavery, and eventually the redemptive power of community and rebellion as she becomes a member of a freedom-seeking Maroon colony.
Another film to check out is Goodbye Uncle Tom. Neither is for the squeamish. Check out these Viewer comments.
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Ayn Rand on Man’s Rights from “Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal”
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An exquisite film! The cinematography is pure art. The story telling is seamlessly in harmony with the visual effects but the plot’s most poignant moment comes at the end of the movie challenging the viewer to contemplate the complexities of political responsibility and spiritual integrity. An exuberant thousand star rating on a four star scale! A must have for the personal library.
- Eric Nunnally
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