Si-Gueriki, la Reine-mère

Idrissou MoraKpai is a member of the Wassangari tribe. After an absence of ten years, he returns to his roots in the north of Benin after the death of his father. Once the Wassangari were fierce warriors, whose lives were dictated by rigid traditions. They don’t fight any more, but they have retained their strictly patriarchal system. Mora Kpai sees his sisters and nieces suffering under the oppression of the male members of the tribe. He is amazed to see that his mother is liberated. When he was a child, she was a stranger to him, one of the many wives of his father, now she has been granted the title SiGueriki. She is the queen mother, the female equivalent of a king. SiGueriki, La ReineMère is an intimate and personal film. Idrissou MoraKpai: ‘With the death of my father, part of my childhood, my security, my faith and dreams died too.’ MoraKpai was confronted by an ageold culture while he also had a really new encounter with his mother. The conversations with all the women are lively, humorous and very elucidating. Despite their difficult position, the ladies are very well aware of what there is to be bought in the world. MoraKpai filmed their world with respect and love, without too much attractive folklore.