Moolaad'e

The film "Moolaade" follows the story of Six girls from a rural village in Burkina Faso escape from a “purification'”ceremony, the female circumcision ritual that is still practiced in 34 of the 58 nations in the African Union. Two head for the city. The other four know of a woman in the village who, some years earlier, had prevented her own daughter from being cut. They run to her home, where she is the second of three wives of a man whose brother is a figure in the town's power structure. To protect them, she pronounces a Moolaadé, an unbreakable spell of sanctuary that can only be dissolved by her word, and which is marked simply by stretching some colored strands of yarn across the doorway. All these questions are literally put on the table in the first ten minutes of this remarkable film. How will the townspeople react to this open rebellion against female genital mutilation? How will the men who govern the town respond? What about the women who actually perform these ceremonies, presented in the film virtually as a coven of witches dressed entirely in red? And, especially, what about the town's other women? Will Collé Gallo Ardo Sy recant the Moolaadé? Will the village ever again be the same?Colle's moolaadé stirs the anger of the Salidana, a group of women dressed in red gowns who perform the mutilation. She is also forced to stand up to the intimidation of her husband and his brother and the male elders in the village who see her as a threat to their values. As a gesture of control, the men confiscate the women's radios, their main source of news of outside life. Rigidly defending their traditions and what they questionably see as a practice sanctioned by Islam, they also turn against an itinerant merchant they call Mercenaire (Dominique Zeida) who comes to the aid of Colle in a shocking scene of public flogging. As the issue becomes crystallized, many women rally to Colle's support whose courage in the face of determined opposition is of heroic proportions. The term 'purification' speaks volumes of the perception of females and sexuality held by those in favor of the custom. Other arguments supporting the practice as expressed in 'Moolaadé' speak of a long-held tradition traveling so far back into the mists of time that no-one seems able to explain the actual reason for it, and finally, that it is a requirement of Islam. Certainly there will be many Muslims who will take issue with this, and the director makes a point of showing Burkina Faso's complex cultural potpourri. On top of its indigenous animist roots, the society also shows traces of its French colonial past, as well as being a melting pot of many religions, the lines between which are heavily blurred. Add to this the increasing influence of modern technology and it is not hard to comprehend how beliefs have played a steady game in that. Indeed technology is seen as the greatest threat of all to the preservation of the strongly patriarchal society, with the village serving as a microcosmic stand-in for many cultures the world over. With the dreaded radio spewing forth subversive ideas from distant, and not s distant lands, the local women find they increasingly able to articulate a 'worrying' desire for independence and opposition to values never-before challenged. In a wonderful display of irony, the most celebrated man in the village is the only one to have swapped the illiberal world of the tribe for the free market corridors of corporate France. Those responsible for challenging the status quo fight their corner in the flickering shadows of burning torches, mob rule and genuine fear. Not all, however, are so easily cowed into submission .In the end, Colle is triumphant, rallying the women in the village to vow that their daughters will not be subjected to this torture anymore. "Moolaade" deals with other aspects of Africa as well. It comments on the adherence to traditional values that are good six women get protection through a code word and piece of cloth tied in front of the entrance to the house. It comments on materialism (including a bread vendor with a good heart for the oppressed who is called a "mercenary" by the women who claim to know the meaning of the word) that pervades pristine African villages (the return of a native from Europe and the increasing dependence on radios for entertainment and information).The radios are set ablaze near the mosque but the imams are stunned when the tribal chief's son declares that he will not give up his television. Colle has found an old radio and keeps it hidden from others. The frustrated and defeated males in the tribe realize that the waves of change are too numerous to hold back any longer. They will have to adapt to a world of sneakers and televisions. Moolaade is an ode to the courage of a brave and visionary woman. Then there's the colorful story. It's hard to believe that this type of lifestyle is still very common in parts of Africa. Moolaade is an amazing film colorful, in-your-face, thick with intense conversation -- and because of the subject matter, it's simultaneously fascinating and repellent to watch.It is not without moments of humor, such as the burning of radios to keep the women from learning too much, but it is a heartbreaking picture, courageous ending notwithstanding. Despite legal bans on female circumcision, it is still a reality today in several countries.The urgency of this message will captivate you. It may make you appreciate living in a country like the US, that seems to have come so far when it comes to woman's rights, but even more than that, it will hopefully create a common tie across the board knowing that every human desires and deserves their right to life. The humanity of this film is painfully clear. There's no avoiding a change of heart and mind. All this said, Senegal has some difficulty finding actors that can handle the depth of this subject. 

"Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song"

The legendary film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, was the first film specifically made for the black community, by the black community, in order to not only give the black community a hero in the cinemas but also to replicate the black experience. It became the first blaxsploitation picture as well as one of the highest grossing independent films of the 1970s. Melvin Van Peebles not only self-financed the film, but also starred in it, wrote the screenplay, and directed it. He also allowed his children to play in it, as well as many of his closest friends. It is one of the most groundbreaking films of all time. It not only helped change the shape of black cinema, but also independent film making at large. It tells the troubled story of a male prostitute named Sweet Sweetback who, after witnessing police brutality against a fellow black man, beats up a police officer. Now on the run from the law, Sweetback must do what he can to avoid and evade the police, even if that means involvement from the Hell's Angels and using his "talent. This is an important film for the black community because it portrays the realities of how in many places blacks were treated by whites. This had never been done before in the movies before Sweetback. Prior to this, Hollywood preferred portraying blacks as either average or mediocre  as long as they acted white, otherwise they were minor bit players or caricatures of how the white community saw blacks. 

The film is paced by the Director like a journey that we as the viewers are on as we follow Sweetback as he runs from the police and meets up with various friends, lovers etc.,not unlike a road picture after he killed a couple of white cops who unfairly beat up a black brother. We become more interested in him than what he's running from and I believe that was the intent of the filmmaker. The movie is filled with unique styling and music that works with the movie, with chanting for the main character and motivation for him to keep on keeping on. To me this seems like Van Peebles pushing the black community to do the same.

The content or message of "Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song" can be summarized in the following words you will see at the beginning of the film: "This film is dedicated to all the Brothers and Sisters who had enough of the Man." Most probably before this film no film had ever tried to show a black character hitting and knocking out a white cop, and for better or worse, the way the film does it is amazingly raw and crude.The "Man" is represented by several non-descriptive white cops who beat up a black. When star and director Melvin Van Peebles says he had enough, his character shows it by beating the cops senseless. The police, who are largely whites are not competent enough to chase Sweetback, and he gets away very easily from them. By the conventional standard of narrative, the film is almost pointless, going on and on without showing where it is leading us. Occasionally we see Sweetback helped by some and betrayed by others including blacks, or the strange episodes of Sweetback drinking the water in the mud.

The most important thing to understand about this film is that if you're getting it just because you expect to live up the expectations of its genre, you better not. In fact, that was the debate over Sweetback for years. What was it ? The world's first blaxsploitation film or the world's first black social empowerment movie, a black porno flick or deep social satire ? B-move trash or a brilliantly inspired art movie. The truth is, the strength and weakness of Sweetback is that its really all of those things. If you're expecting it to meet the mold of any one of these genre's you'll be disappointed and that is the part of  fun of the film.Getting past the shock to see the message, and the message to receive the shock and just riding along with Sweetback. With its gritty, funky tale and soundtrack, controversial story no doubt that there's something in it to both please and offend just about anyone that watches it. The best thing to do is put it like this  Sweetback is a genre all of its own, just sit and watch it in suspended judgement and disbelief.  Watch the movie, again and again and again. Depending upon who you are you'll either find it powerful and entertaining or well, revolting and disgusting, either way the fact is when you watch it there's one thing you won't come away seeing, no one really did it before Melvin Van Peebles, and no one, despite all the films it inspired did it after and that's why you should see it.

"How To Eat Your Watermelon in White Company" ( And Enjoy it)

“How to Eat Watermelon” (And Enjoy It) is an exciting and positive biography. The documentary shows a great visual of the pioneering African-American filmmaker’s career. In the documentary you see Mr. Van Peebles as a father, pioneer, lover, artist, businessman, trickster, and intellectual. The documentary also gives a record of American racism and one man’s crafty, angry and resourceful answer to it. From the documentary you see how Van Peebles made his way in the world on his own terms. Van  Peebles grew up on the notorious South side of Chicago at the time racial tensions were very high. The documentary allows you to open up your normal view of him and look t him as a human being. His side was not based on a white or black view in particular he just narrated as one views based on what he observed from all his years of life , the title in its self shows brilliance in that he articulated a way of thinking where you can be you and not feel guilty because of any barriers. It was more of a self help documentary as far as seeing yourself as a serious person without being serious because thoughts have been taught act like that because someone is judging the race as a whole. His thoughts were provocative and unapologetic because it was coming from views of a man who grew up in Chicago and experienced different walks of life and expressed it as very few can. Like most movies the scenes and nature could rub some the wrong way but I would argue that those who are meant to understand will see he drove the his assertions of uniqueness and drove his point home verified by commentary by other black film makers such as Gordon Parks and Spike Lee. The genius is how he was viewed in the movie as anti black establishment and anti white establishment and showed that you can be you without any constraints or an "oughtness" based on another race of pre determined thoughts. in a way he gave us incite on how he thinks everyone should be; An individual where his genius shows us how he showed how regular he was as a man.  Also I loved how he cleverly made the title to make everyone think the movie was going to be a certain way but as the movie continued he couldn't help but make the viewers elevated there pre conceived judgments from ethnic backgrounds. He exposed how we all collectively are bias but in that it shows how much we are alike.  I found his views on relationship really funny in the fact he was fearful of monogamous relationships in the film his daughter even joked that he organized his women the weekdays and she said "If you're Tuesday night's girl, you better not call on Wednesday." All in all "How to Eat Watermelon in White Company." is a must see he has a rare honesty that seems to make viewers travel throw a roller coaster of a modern renaissance man.