Moolaadé
All the greatest African directors seem to recognise that film is a valid and vorpal method of protest. Ousmane Sembène certainly knew that and with his final film, he brought one of the most important African issues to bear. He directed Moolaadé at the rather astonishing age of 82 (he died two years later, presumably from exhaustion) to a chorus of wild critical acclaim. That acclaim was mediated by an undercurrent of more localised controversy. You see, Moolaadé is about genital mutilation.
This barbaric practice has been going on for centuries and throughout most of the world it has mercifully died out but in certain areas of Africa and elsewhere it still goes on. More often than not the process is unhygienic, lacks any kind of anesthetic or pain relief and carries a very real risk of death. Look into what it entails in further detail if you like but I won’t be held responsible for such dangerous doses of horrifying, the kind that makes people drop everything and desperately sign up for Mars One. Moolaadé is entirely based in a small village as the traditional time for this act to be performed starts to loom. Collé, the third and favorite wife of one of the most influential villagers takes a group of girls into her protection so that they can avoid being cut, much like her own daughter avoided it.
The film seems to treat the issue almost casually to begin with, but as it progresses and the pressure for Collé to abandon her goal starts to mount, the shades darken. She finds herself caught between the venomous elders and the men putting her daughter’s arranged marriage in jeopardy by trying to steer her fiancee away. Despite the rich colour palette, warm music and energetic cast, the film is as haunting as it is direct, there’s no need for satire or allegory here. It’s a deeply compelling piece of storytelling brimming with fascinating characters and insights into West African culture. It’s also a bastion of a battle than carries on there today, a battle to have this pointless, dangerous, irredeemable practice abolished once and for all. Moolaadé is Sembène’s crowning achievement and it extols the power of cinema as a tool of upheaval in a way that only a handful of films have ever done. It’s a great shame that it even needed to be made, but a great triumph that it is so recognised and revered. See it.
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