MOOLAADE, 2004, Senegal, 123 min.
(Subtitled)
Genre: Drama
Release Data: January 2007, (Canada Only)
Selected Recognitions: Winner, Best Film, in "Un Certain Regard" and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Cannes, 2004. Jury Award, Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival, 2005. Nominated for the Political Film Society Award in the Democracy and Human Rights categories; Best Foreign language Film, US National Society of Film Critics, 2005; Special Jury Award, Marrakech, 2004.
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Director(s): Ousmane Sembene
What It's About: The women of Djerisso, a small African village, rebel against the traditional practice of female genital mutilation (referred to in the subtitles as "excision"). The red-robed priestesses have come to town and it’s time for all the girls who are deemed old enough to go through the "purification" ritual that includes genital mutilation. Four of them flee from the ceremony and seek "moolaadé" (protection) from Colle, the second wife of a minor village chief. They feel sure she will protect them because two of her daughters died from the ritual and she refused to allow her youngest to undergo the procedure. Colle takes the girls in, sets the boundaries and invokes the ancient spell of moolaadé that decrees harm to anyone who dares to violate the protected area. While her decision regarding her own daughter has been tolerated as a personal foible, Colle's sheltering of other women's children is seen as a threat to the village social order. The men and the priestesses put various pressures on Colle and eventually decide the women need to be taught a lesson…leading to a finale that will bring tears and wonder in equal measure.
What to Look For: The colourful, bustling life of a Senegalese village, and the details of work, rest, domesticity and religious ritual that make up the calendar of days. How tradition rubs up against modern values in the form of the Chief’s favourite son who returns from his education in France in the middle of the story. The film's comic relief provided by Mercénaire ("Mercenary") a travelling salesman and bearer of news and gossip.
Why It Matters: Moolaadé is both a critique of traditional forms of authority and a celebration of the warmth and dynamism of African village life. The 81-year-old Senegalese director Osmane Sembene is considered the "father of African cinema", and has explored the hardships facing African women and their capacity for resilience and heroism in many of his films. He has organized unions, written novels and here takes on the particularly controversial subject of genital mutilation. The film shows how one stubborn woman's resistance can alter the shape of the world.
Themes: Africa / Political Commentary
Notes: This title was widely released in 2005, then disappeared. It has recently become available again only in Canada so, if you want to see it, act quickly before it is withdrawn again.
Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources