AFRICAN FILM AND
VIDEO IN THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES CURRICULUM
Table of Contents
A. Background
Articles
B. Film Entries
Allah Tantou 1
Aristotle’s Plot 2
Battle of Algiers 3
In Darkest Hollywood 4-7
Emitai
Sambizanga 21
Sankofa
Selbe 22
These Hands 23
Touki Bouki 24
Warrior Marks 25
Wend Kuuni 26
Women with Open Eyes
Yaaba 28
Yeelen 29-30
C. Film Distributors
D. Appendices -
Africa Online
I. Electronic Discussion Groups
II. Internet
Resources for Africa and African Studies
A. BACKGROUND
ARTICLES
1. Ukadike,
N. F. (1993). Introduction. In M. Diawara (ed.), Black African Cinema. New York: Routledge.
2. Harrow, K. (199?). Introduction: Shooting Forward. Research In African
Literatures: Special Issue on African Film.
3. Harrow, K. (199?). Women and African
Cinema. Matatu: Journal for African
Culture and Society.
B. FILM AND VIDEO
GUIDE
ALLAH TANTOU, 1991
62 minutes in French
with English subtitles
Director: David
Achkar
Distributor:
California Newsreel
Purchase Price:
$195.00
Rental Price: $95.00
Synopsis
This film confronts
the immense personal and political cost of human rights abuses common to some
evolutionary governments in post-independent Africa. Filmmaker David Achkar accomplishes this by following the life of
his diplomat father, Marof Achkar, who became a political prisoner in Sekou Touré’s
Guinea during the late 1960s.
Critique
“Allah Tantou is the first African
film to confront the immense personal and political costs of the widespread
human rights abuses on the continent.
It follows filmmaker David Achkar’s search for his father, his father’s
search for himself inside a Guinean prison and Africa’s search for a new
beginning amid the disillusionment of the post-independence era. One of the most courageous and controversial
films of recent years, Allah Tantou speaks in an unabashed personal voice
not often heard in African cinema.
The life of Marof
Achkar can be seen as emblematic of much recent African history. In 1958, his countryman, Sekou Touré
declared Guinea the first independent French African colony and became a hero
of Pan-Africanism. Marof Achkar, a
leading figure in the Ballets Africans, served as U.N. ambassador for the new
government. In 1968, Achkar was
suddenly recalled, charged with treason and vanished into the notorious Camp
Boiro prison. His family was exiled
and, only after Touré’s death in 1984, did they learn of his execution in 1971.
In a cinematic
tradition which has privileged the calm collective voice of the griot, Allah
Tantou speaks with the fragmented, uncertain rhythms of the individual
conscience. Achkar juxtaposes diverse,
sometimes contradictory texts -- documentary, newsreel, dramatizations, photos,
journals -- to deny us a single, authoritative narrative space.”
(Critique quoted
from California Newsreel’s Library of African Cinema. 1995-96 Catalog.)
IN THE CLASSROOM
This film is suited
for college level instruction. It
considers the topics of African politics, post-colonialism, and African
history.
ARISTOTLE’S PLOT,
1996
71 minutes in French
with English subtitles
Director: Jean-Pierre Bekolo
Distributor: JPB Productions
Purchase Price: $295.00
Synopsis
This feature film
examines the trials of African movie-making in a humorous, and critical,
manner.
Critique
“In a southern
African town, a group of wanna-be gangstas hangs out at the Cinema Africa,
subjecting themselves to megadoses of the latest actions fests. They’ve taken the names of their screen
gods: Van Damme, Bruce Lee, Nikita,
Saddam, and the leader Cinema. Africa of Hollywood, replacing
Schwarzenegger with Sembene. The
government is indifferent and the gangsta won’t come quietly, so he takes
matters into his hands and becomes a vigilante for an indigenous film culture.
In its combination
of critical questioning and anarchic glee, Aristotle’s Plot harks back to
Godard, but with a sense of humor all its own.
Instead of working toward the end of cinema like Godard, Bekolo just
wants a new beginning and a decent middle.”
(Critique quoted
from article by Cameron Bailey, Toronto Film Festival Catalogue)
IN THE CLASSROOM
This film is suited
for college level courses in African Studies, Film Studies and Post-colonial
Studies.
BATTLE OF ALGIERS,
1966
123 minutes in
French with English subtitles
Director: Gillo
Pontecorvo
Distributor: Macmillan Films
Purchase Price: $59.95
Rental: This film can be rented from some commercial
video stores.
Synopsis
A story
reconstruction in documentary style of Algerian resistance to the French
between 1954 and 1957.
Critique
“This powerful film
is a documentary-style reconstruction of the Algerian rebellion against the
French between 1954 and 1957. It
focuses on the FLN guerrilla underground and the tactics used by the French to
destroy it. Flashbacks show the rebels’
terrorist campaign and the escalation of torture, murder and destruction on
both sides. A dramatic example of the
tragedy of violent revolution. It is
useful in a larger study where alternatives to violent social change are
presented. Sympathetic to the FLN, the
film makers portray them as underdogs fighting valiantly for social justice,
because of this the film may produce support among viewers for terrorism.”
(Critique quoted
from War and Peace Guide 1980, pp. 75-76.)
IN THE CLASSROOM
This film might be
used in a college level course on the historical political situation in Africa
and The Middle East. It might also be
used in a college level course on Recent African History or World History.
IN DARKEST
HOLLYWOOD: CINEMA AND APARTHEID, PARTS I AND II, 1993
57 minutes in
English
Director: Peter
Davis and Daniel Riesenfeld
Distributor: Villon
Films
Purchase Price: 2 x
56 minute videos, $390.00
Synopsis
In Darkest Hollywood
examines
the role of cinema during the reign of apartheid in South Africa. A mosaic of clips from feature, documentary
and propaganda films with commentary by writers, directors and actors, this
film looks at the film makers whose films fought to destroy, and in some cases
supported, apartheid.
Critique
The following is an
except from an H‑NET BOOK REVIEW,
published by Afrlitcine@h‑net.msu.edu
(October, 1997) on the book on which the film, In Darkest Hollywood, is based.
Peter Davis. In Darkest Hollywood: Exploring the Jungles of Cinema's
South Africa. Athens/Randburg, South Africa: Ohio University
Press/Ravan Press,
1996. vii + 214 pages. Pictures, filmography, bibliography,
articles, reviews, index. $19.95
(paper) ISBN 0‑8214‑1162‑4 (Ohio articles, reviews,
index. $19.95 (paper) ISBN 0‑8214‑1162‑4
(Ohio University Press); ISBN 0‑86975‑443‑2
(Ravan Press).
Reviewed for H‑Afrlitcine
by Maureen N. Eke <Maureen.N.Eke@cmich.edu>, Central Michigan University.
In the Introduction
to his book, In Darkest Hollywood, independent filmmaker Peter Davis states: "This book is about the power of
cinema, and about the devastating
impact of a generic 'Hollywood' that is constantly protesting that it is apolitical, even while it stamps
stereotypes and
projects behavior
that is as profoundly political as it is influential." Davis's critique of Hollywood focuses on
what he perceives as the legendary film
industry's influence on South Africa's popular culture. Davis, however, resists using the term
"cultural imperialism," stating that "people everywhere were not
coerced into going to the cinema," but
"eagerly allowed themselves to be seduced into an addiction that
is well‑nigh incurable"
(4). But, since Davis likens
Hollywood's "eagerly allowed
themselves to be seduced into an addiction that is well‑nigh incurable"
(4). But, since Davis likens
Hollywood's overwhelming presence in South Africa to empire building, one
wonders whether the same explanation of "voluntary seduction" could
be used to explain European colonization of Africa. The colonized must have "eagerly allowed themselves to be seduced" into a state of
subjugation. This framework would make
for an interesting and invigorating reading of cultural domination.
Davis argues that
Hollywood's representation of Africa replicates European imperialism in Africa, because Europe's
"literature of empire that had come into being during the nineteenth
century found its second wind in the cinema" (2), beginning with those
made in "the earliest years of the century to the latest." Most of these films "emphasized the
supremacy of the white race, directly and indirectly justifying conquest. Imperial and the white race, directly and
indirectly justifying conquest.
Imperial and racist images,
messages, codes, cyphers, attitudes and behavior were copied
indiscriminately" (2). "Up to
the present time, Hollywood perpetuates the ethos of empire" (2), he
adds. Consequently, Davis insists that,
like Western subordination of Africans even in stories about themselves, Hollywood's portrayals of Africans
placed them only at the periphery of the story. Africa, Davis says, "was a vast hunting ground for the white
man, and when Hollywood seized on Africa, this was the Africa it offered"
(2). In Hollywood's Africa, "the
pictures of the native people are scarcely distinguishable from those of the
animal trophies" (2).
But Davis is not
interested in exploring Hollywood's representation of Africa, that is, the
continent. His study is narrowly‑focused, specifically on the impact of Hollywood on
black South African culture and
the "creation" of black South Africa by subsequent film makers
through and the "creation" of black South Africa by subsequent film
makers through Hollywood's eyes.
Consequently, Davis' "principal concern is with an image‑bank relating to South Africa,
especially the way that black South
Africans have been presented on film, how the image‑bank changed
(or significantly failed to change) during this century" (5). Furthermore, the study is not a "comprehensive history of cinema
depicting that country [South Africa]."
It is rather a study of "selected genre films," the author
asserts. Also, the study does not
include Afrikaans cinema or African‑language film, because those
"categories are relatively
narrowcast."
Davis' book provides
a detailed documentation and discussion of the history and often unexplained
ideology behind several films about black South Africans and South Africa. The book explores nearly ninety years of film making which has transformed South
Africa's popular culture. Using a combination of archival research and
interviews, Davis unearths both the personal visions and politics of the film
makers, the actors, as well as the interpersonal relationships and conflicts
that developed during filmmaking.
Although the book occasionally reads like a popular magazine, especially
when Davis delves into the private lives of the film makers, much of the
information he provides about the historical and political conditions under
which the films were made is not readily available to the novice of South
African cinema. The filmography at the
end of the book identifies about ninety‑one films discussed, beginning
with the D. W. Griffith's "The Zulu's Heart" (1908), which according
to Davis is the earliest Western‑made film about South Africa, to
"The Power of One," the latest and a conflation of "Rocky"
and Robinson Crusoe.
From the inception
of cinematic production in and about South Africa, the film producers and directors were whites
(either expatriate or South the film
producers and directors were whites (either expatriate or South African), while
black South Africans and expatriate blacks were always cast in the roles of
characters, a role which Davis describes as "adjuncts to whites." Despite this unequal relationship between the producers and
actors/actresses there were a few periods which held out a ray of hope for the emergence of black South African
"voice," or presence in the cinema.
In the chapter "Towards a Black cinema in South Africa: The Promise of the 1950s," Davis asserts that the 1950s saw various
experiments in "black cinema"
articulated through a foregrounding of "African" thematic
concerns and actors/actresses. For instance, Africans began to play central
roles in feature‑length entertainment films. He credits this development to the efforts of three "outsiders": scriptwriter Donald Swanson and actor Eric Rutherford who formed
a triad with Gloria Green, the daughter of a
efforts of three "outsiders":
scriptwriter Donald Swanson and actor Eric Rutherford who formed a triad
with Gloria Green, the daughter of a wealthy South African Jewish family. These "outsiders" interrogated
established Hollywood and white South
African cinema traditions, which relegated
Africans to the margins, locating them off‑focus on the screen or
almost outside the frame of the
picture. According to Davis, these
"outsiders" asked, "why
not [have]...a feature film, a full‑length entertainment film, with African actors?'" (22). Conceding that "it is certain the film
they made, 'Jim Comes to Jo'burg,' was made with a particular kind of liberal
sensibility, a kind that today is sometimes despised" (21), Davis cautions, however, that "it is equally
certain that without it, an important
part of South Africa's black heritage would be totally lost to succeeding generations" (21). His application of "black
cinema," however, is problematic. He assumes that an African thematic content and an all‑black cast signify "black
cinema," even if the directors and producers all‑black cast signify
"black cinema," even if the directors and producers are white. The "new" cinema is defined as
"African cinema" because, at
the time, black South Africans were "thrilled" to see themselves
and their culture represented on stage,
even when such representations "upgraded" Hollywood's earlier images
of the culture.
A similar muddying
of terms is also evident in the discussion of "buddies," Davis' term
for the friendships and collaborations which developed across the color line in
the films produced outside South Africa
in the 1960s and later. These
interracial friendships which developed despite the increased racial divisions
within South Africa are noticeable in films such as "Dingaka" (1964),
"The Wilby Conspiracy" (1975), "The Gods Must be Crazy"
(1980), "Cry Freedom" (1987), and "A Dry White Season" (1989) to mention only a few. Davis explains that the cross‑racial
friendship existed only in a "fictive South Africa that bore little (1989)
to mention only a few. Davis explains
that the cross‑racial friendship
existed only in a "fictive South Africa that bore little resemblance to reality" (61). He adds that "the stories showed a
South Africa where black/white
friendship existed, by misrepresenting the harsh facts of real South African
life" (61).
Ironically, the
seemingly collaborative interracial environment which the films depicted were
often ruptured by the intrusion of the political and social realities of
apartheid South Africa into the lives of the black cast members. Many of the black South Africans and
expatriate blacks experienced various forms of racial discrimination, ranging
from denial of accommodation in hotels
to police harassment. Even as these
actors and actresses were being recognized internationally, apartheid South
Africa was denying their humanity. In
addition, these black artists did not have
the power to write or direct stories about their people.
On the contrary, in
his concluding remarks, "A parting of the ways," the power to write
or direct stories about their people. Davis perceives an improvement in the
representation of black South Africans since D. W. Griffith's "The Zulu's
Heart" (1908). These improvements
are evident especially in films produced by white South Africans. He cites
"Shaka Zulu" (1986), "The Gods Must be Crazy"
(1980), and "Mapantsula" (1988) as examples of films which end with
choices for the Africans, pointing out that the choices made "are not
those that whites in the films would
prefer" (189). These choices,
according to Davis, suggest "an advance in the way South Africa and its
black inhabitants were perceived, at least by white South African film‑makers"
(190). Certainly, while
"Mapantsula's" anti‑apartheid
message may be appealing, the other two films generally draw harsh criticisms
from audiences, although Davis seems to
suggest otherwise. Interestingly, while
admitting that "Shaka Zulu" appropriated the old stereotypical divisions of Africans into the
"Savage Other" and "Faithful
Servant," Davis identifies this film as a "progressive"
representation of Africans, because Shaka was "endowed with a personality,
as opposed to making him a cipher."
Truly, the film's representation of Shaka as a corrupt, dictatorial,
maniacal, and bloodthirsty leader would make an ideal prototype for African
leadership and identities in future films!
The film was the project of the South African Broadcasting Corporation,
which under the apartheid government engaged in various forms of media
propaganda for the then South African government. Davis' conclusions also seem to accept the refashioned
"Noble Savage" or "Man Friday" of "The Gods Must be
Crazy." We are invited to laugh
and overlook the old exotic images of Africa‑‑wild animals,
landscapes, strange and warring peoples for the sake of entertainment,
especially, when the "Noble Savage" is given a personality and
choice. One can not resist wondering
about the impact of Jamie Uys' closeness to the apartheid hegemony on his
construction of the Africa and Africans seen in his film.
Structurally, the
book is divided into several chapters, although it is often unclear whether or
not Davis meant these divisions as chapters.
The chapters are occasionally
separated by a collection of photographs of actors, film makers, and shots from
some of the movies under discussion. In
spite of these minor structural and perspectival weaknesses, the book is an
invaluable resource of information on films about South Africa, especially
those films which now may be archived or lost.
In addition, Davis' interviews
with several of the film makers, as well as his insightful discussions of the
histories which inform both the subject matter, tone, and perspectives, help to
foster more comprehensive interpretations of some of these familiar films. Above all, this book, insightful discussions
of the histories which inform both the subject matter, tone, and perspectives,
help to foster more comprehensive interpretations of some of these familiar
films. Above all, this book, indeed,
reveals the overwhelming presence of Hollywood in South Africa's cinema
culture. In general, In Darkest
Hollywood is also a commentary on the consumption of Hollywood and American
popular culture by many African national governments and their citizens.
Copyright (c) 1997
by H‑Net, all rights reserved.
This work may be copied for non‑profit educational use if proper
credit is given to the author and the
list. For other permission, please contact H‑Net@h‑net.msu.edu.
IN THE CLASSROOM
This film might be
used to provide background information to the teacher using African film in the
classroom. The film could also be used
in film studies or communications courses.
EMITAI, 1971
101 minutes Diola
and French with English subtitles
Director: Ousmane
Sembene
Distributor: New Yorker Films
Purchase Price:
$175.00
Synopsis
Emitai is a historical
film set in the final days of WWII. The
film depicts a conflict between the French colonialists and the Diola ethnic
group of Senegal. It is the Diola women
who initiate the resistance.
Critique
“ ‘Film should be a
school of history,’ says Ousmane Sembene of Senegal, widely considered the
father of African cinema. ‘We have to
have the courage to say that in the colonial period we were sometimes colonized
with the help of our own leaders.’
Sembene made these
statements concrete with the 1971 premiere of Emitai, his visually rich
and complex drama set in the Diola
society of rural Senegal. Perhaps the
ideas struck too close to home. The
film was immediately banned in Senegal, indeed throughout Africa. Emitai tells the story of key incidents
that took place in French colonial Senegal during the Second World War. The film centers on attempts by the colonial
administration to impose a new rice tax in a Diola village and the resistance
that followed. The community becomes
divided over what strategy to take. The
traditional elders are backed into a corner and humiliated, while the village
women adopt new tactics and take strong action. In a series of startling and vivid scenes, visions of the gods
appear to the elders, while in another part of the village women rapidly
organize and hide the substantial rice crop.”
“Based on his own
screenplay, Emitai was Sembene’s third drama and the film that launched
his world reputation. But reaching an
international audience was not his aim.
Rather he wanted to communicate directly with the Diola society. he is proud that the villagers ‘were happy
to hear that there was a beautiful language for them.’ The film is not about the elders, or the
women, the act of resistance, the cruelty of the French or the leading
characters. It is all these at once,
touching on economics, social structure, religion and culture. The pace may be slow for those of us raised
on Hollywood action, but there is a richness of gesture and a symbolic language
that holds the attention of any audience.”
(Critique quoted
from a review by Peter Steven in New Internationalist, February 1996, p.
33.)
FOR FURTHER READING
Cham, Mbye. “Art and Ideology in the work of Ousmane
Sembene and Haile Gerima.” PresenceAfricaine
129.1 (1984): 79-91.
Ghali,
Noureddine. “An Interview with Sembene
Ousmane.”
Film and Politics in the ThirdWorld. Ed. John D.H.
Downing. Brooklyn: Autonomedia, 1987.
Peters,
Jonathan. “Aesthetics and Ideology in
African Film: Ousmane Sembene’s Emitai.”
African
Literature in Its Social and Political Dimensions. Eds. Eileen Julien, Mildred
Mortimer, and Curtis
Schade. Washington, DC: Three
Continents Press, 1986.
Vieyra, Paulin
Soumanou. “Five Major Films by Sembene
Ousmane.” Film and Politics in the
Third
World. Ed. John D.H. Downing. Brooklyn: Automedia, 1987.
IN THE CLASSROOM:
This film can be
used in college level African History, Anthropology, or Women’s Studies
courses.
FEMMES AUX YEUX
OUVERTS (Women with Open Eyes), 1994
52 minutes in French
with English subtitles
Director: Anne-Laure
Folly
Distributor:
California Newsreel
Purchase Price:
$195.00
Rental Price: $95.00
Synopsis
This film profiles
contemporary African women in four West African countries: Burkina Faso, Mali,
Senegal, and
Benin. We meet a woman active in the
movement against female genital mutilation, a
health care worker
educating women about sexually transmitted diseases, and business women who
describe how they
have set up an association to share expertise and provide mutual assistance.
Critique
“Femmes Aux Yeux
Ouverts
is visually quite stunning and makes economical use of its 52
minutes to cover
many aspects of the roles of African women.
Although it begins with a poem by a
Burkinaabe women and
in Burkina Faso, by the end of the film the viewer has also seen footage from
Mali, Senegal, and
Benin. It is organized thematically by
titles flashed on the screen. Most of
the
women speak French,
with English subtitles provided. The
subjects covered include female genital
mutilation (Burkina
Faso), forced marriage and lack of property rights (Burkina Faso), AIDS, the
struggle against
poverty (Senegal, Mali, Benin), and political participation for women (Benin,
Burkina Faso). The narration is multi-vocal, often from
activists involved in amelioration of various
aspects of women’s
situations. Although most of these
activities come from the elite, a non-
condescending view
of the situation of poor women is presented in many contexts; men are heard
from occasionally;
and the point is made firmly by a market woman that by discriminating against
women “man is
destroying himself.” The tone varies
from anger to dispassionate observation,
depending on the
speaker. Many of the women are
eminently quotable, and there is significant
footage from the
1991 revolution in Burkina Faso, along with an interview with a participant
whose
daughter was killed
in the women’s demonstration that was a key event. Also included is an
extended interview
with Mali’s first female governor (of Bamako), who does some of the narration.
The film therefore
has historical ramifications in several aspects, but ... it is an unintentional
historical document,
not a historical documentary.
(Review by Claire
Robertson. American Historical Review 101.4 (Oct 1996): 1142-1143.)
IN THE CLASSROOM
This film can be
used in college level Anthropology, Sociology, and Women Studies classes.
.
FINYÈ (The Wind),
1982
100 minutes In
French and Bambara with English subtitles
Director: Souleymane
Cissé
Synopsis
This film depicts
the romance of two young students in Bamako, Mali: Bah and Batrou. Bah comes from a poor traditional family,
while Batrou’s father is the governor, a cruel man who strives to prevent his
daughter from building a relationship with Bah. The governor, Sangaré, tampers with Bah’s high school exams and
ensures his failure. This leads to
student demonstrations of protest.
Critique
“In 1980 in Mali,
the student protest movement was brutally suppressed by the military
regime.
The student demonstrations
in Finyé, sparked by the governor’s tampering with student test scores,
refers back to this historical reality.
Cisse juxtaposes the optimism of the students with the corruption and
violence of the military regime.
Although it is clear that the older generation has power, the film
suggests that it is the next generation who offers hope for the future.
The tension between
the traditional and the modern overwrites the generational conflict. Kansaye, Bah’s father, confronts the
governor and demands the release of his son.
Kansaye invokes the power of tradition and the power of the ancestors to
support him. The spirit of the
ancestors warn him: “Our sciences have left us, the divine forces have
abandoned us too; do as your own intuition and own initiative tell you.” Nanyse burns his traditional costume as an
act symbolic of his release form the binds of tradition. He joins the student movement and the two
generations join in a common struggle.
The film leaves us with a hopeful projection into Mali’s future.”
(Critique from Schissel, Howard. “Kicking Karate out of the Cinema.” New African September (1983): 43-44.)
IN THE CLASSROOM
This film can be
used in African Studies, History, Political Science, or Post-colonial Studies
college courses.
FINZAN, 1989
107 minutes in
Bambara and French with English subtitles
Director: Cheik
Oumar Sissoko
Distributor:
California Newsreel
Purchase Price:
$295.00
Rental Price: $95.00
Synopsis
In Bambara, finzan
means “rebellion,” a most fitting title for this story of two women steadfastly
resisting tradition. After the death of
her husband, Nanyuma refuses to bow to traditional protocol by marrying her
brother-in-law. The younger Fili tries
to escape the ritual of female circumcision.
Sissoko deftly balances widely divergent points of view: the determined
struggle of some women, the obedient tolerance of others, and the bewilderment
of men lost in these times of transition.
The film subtly illustrates relations and conflicts between men and
women, women amongst themselves, and finally the small community and the
powerful state.
Critique
“Finzan is an impassioned
cry for the emancipation of African women.
It is one of the boldest examples of socially engaged filmmaking to come
out of Africa in recent years. Malian
director Cheick Oumar Sissoko has skillfully designed a film which raises the
most urgent issues of rural life in a style accessible to every villager. Finzan opens with graphic images of
birth and motherhood -- its pain, its tenderness, its strength. Finzan is about birth, African women
giving birth to their own freedom.
Director Cheick Sissoko extends the traditional meaning of finzan,
“a dance for the heroes,” by making a filmic tribute to African women.
At its most basic
level, Finzan is the story of a woman who says no, no to the men who try
to control her life. Nanyuma, a young
widow, resists when her brother-in-law, Bala, the village buffoon, claims his
traditional right to “inherit” her as his third wife. “Wife inheritance” is a common practice in
West Africa, retaining a widow and her children as the property of the
husband’s family. Nanyuma escapes to
her parents’ home where her mother shelters her but her father forces her to
leave. She flees to the city and finds
it no more enlightened; she is kidnapped and returned to the village. But a group of the local women support
Nanyuma’s rebellion, threatening the structure of male privilege in the
village.
A parallel story
focuses on one of the most controversial issues in Africa -- clitoridectomy
also called “female circumcision” or “excision.” While health workers warn of the dangers of fatal infection,
hemorrhaging and infertility, local tradition holds that circumcision
discourages extramarital sex by attenuating women’s sexual drives. Fili is a young city woman sent to Nanyuma’s
village by her conservative father to “protect” her from urban vices. When the villagers discover she is not
circumcised, they insist on performing the ritual, even though Fili’s mother
bled to death in childbirth and her doctor has advised against the
operation.