Moolaade {World Cinema}

Moolaade is a 2004 film directed and written by Senegalese director Oumane Sembene. It was the last film he had directed before he passed in 2007. This film addresses the controversial practice of “purification” or female genital mutilation, where young girls have their clitoris cut off because it was believed that girls should not have any enjoyment during sex. This practice reminds me of circumcision; however, it is very different because it doesn’t take away pleasurable sensation, at least not nearly as much. This falsified information of “purification” was believed to have been backed by Islamic principles. After years of this mutilation being done to girls, it finally came out that the information was false.

This practice was so deeply ingrained in their society that it was vital for a young woman’s docility and marriageability. Some choose to see it as a rite of passage and an acceptance into society, while others see it for its excruciatingly painful mutilation. This film speaks to women’s rights and how men have control over the bodies of girls and women. The girls flee to the refuge of Collé (played by Fatoumata Coulibaly), a woman who had spared her daughter from the same fate. Collé casts a spell to protect the girls, which causes much dismay among the village elders. In an attempt to cut off the information and influence coming in for the outside world, they take all radios from the women villagers and demand that the spell be broken, but Collé doesn’t back down. She is abused for helping the girls and going against the status quo, but nevertheless she still protects them.

Let’s talk about the radio. This is the mechanism used to bring outside information in and inside information out. This is how genital mutilation in this village was introduced to these people.

After watching a panel discussion by the Walker Art Center with Scholars and filmmakers, Patricia Lorcin, Sheryl Mousley, John Mowitt, Charles Sugnet, and Joëlle Vitiello, I learned some interesting information about what African people, especially African women, have to say about genital mutilation. Specifically, Patricia Lorcin and Joelle Vitiello went to African conferences, and when the conversation of genital mutilation came up there was a bit of offence and discourse. Lorcin expresses how many of the Africans were outraged because, although they believed that what was being done to their women was an injustice, they also felt like it was their problem to sort out and not something that should be imposed on them by the outside world. Viliello added that when she attended a film conference, the African women who were present expressed that they wanted to be the spokespersons for what’s happening to their people. and how they wanted support from Western women, but they didn’t want them to be too close to them or too far behind them. They wanted to be the ones to decide what to them and their people, without the unnecessary opinions.

This film does a great job of showing the importance of information and media. The woman would not have known that this wasn’t an ok thing if they hadn’t heard of somewhere where this is not the norm. When you are exposed to the way other people live, think, and act, it can inspire you to think bigger because you know and can believe that there’s someone out there who is already living it. I heard about genital mutilation a long time ago, but this film brought it back to the Forefront. I learned that clitoridectomy was prevalent in more than one place in Africa, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Somalia, and Sudan, just to name a few.

I think the film was a wonderfully made showcase and glimpse into the struggles of young African women and girls, and one that I’m very glad to have watched.