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.