Moolaadé

At the age of eighty-one, Ousmane Sembene is one of the most respected African film makers and still in top form. In his latest film, he takes a stand against the controversial practice of female circumcision that, as he remarks himself, still occurs in 38 African states. Moolaadé starts with the flight of six girls just before they have to undergo this purification ritual that is organised in the village every seven years. While two of them go into hiding in a neighbouring city, the four others seek refuge with the second wife of one of the villagers. Once a victim of circumcision herself and mother to a teenage daughter who escaped the ritual, Collé activates the 'moolaadé': an old charm that will bring calamity to anyone who does anything to the girls while they are under her roof. In doing so, she evokes the wrath of the villagers, including her own husband, and her refusal to end the spell leads to a battle of almost mythical proportions between progress and tradition that tears the village apart. In a beautiful and gripping translation of the African oral narrative tradition to the silver screen, this modern classic sketches a lively world of conflicting characters, complex relationships and rich couleur locale. This many-sided context makes Collé's rebellion and its consequences reverberate even more powerfully. (SdH)