Moolaadé
I think this is the first Senegalese film I’ve seen although the credits suggest it was shot in Burkina Faso. It tackles the topic of female circumcision and was filmed by Ousmane Sembene, the 80 year-old leading director in the country. The action takes place in a village when 4 young girls seek refuge in the house of an older woman to avoid this garish and common practice which results frequently in their deaths. She has to protect them while they are in her care unless she decides to encant a prayer that lifts this state. As she is a fervent anti-circumcision supporter she decides to keep up the protection which brings out over half the village against her and especially all the men who cling to tradition and their interpretation of Islam to support it. What they can’t bear is women getting the upper hand and they have confiscated radios in the village so the women can’t get information even from the religious elders over the radio. 
The film is really then a feminist movie and it does have a pretty graphic and dark side which does no credit to the view of the oppressive men. We also get a look at African village life and all this has wider ramifications for what we uphold in life and in the world today. Beautiful African music, colourful setting and photography and a well acted and told universal story, this film is one to remember and cherish for its stand and its energy.
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