WOW Film 2012: Window On Africa

With Window on Africa WOW Film Festival gives us a fascinating insight into three countries rearely seen on screen: Uganda, Ethiopia and Zambia. The event comprised three short documentary films, a live Q+A with director Carol Salter and a Skype Q+A with directors Willem Timmers and Ilja Kok.

Unearthing the Pen (dir Carol Salter)
Telling the story of a young Ugandan boy named Lochen who desperately wants to overturn the curse his ancestors put on the pen so that he can finally go to school, Unearthing the Pen is so beautifully filmed and the protagonist so engaging that I couldn't tell if it was a documentary or fiction. A sweet, non-didactic exploration of the importance of education for those who can't have it. During the Q+A, Salter said that she had really hated school and was therefore really moved by this boy who showed her how lucky she had been to have an education.

I spoke to Salter after the film:



Framing the Other (dirs. Willem Timmers, Ilja Kok)
Framing the Other documents the Mursi tribe who have become a magnet for tourists who flock to see their distinctive lip plates. The film made me very uncomfortable for many reasons. Firstly, the lip plates really freaked me! I know they're a traditional part of Mursi culture but I'm really squeamish. Mainly, however, the interaction - or lack thereof - between tourists and Mursi was horrible. The directors said during the Q+A that they had both worked as guides in Ethiopia and their disgust at the tourists inspired this film. The tourists just want to take photos of the Mursi who, wanting to make as much from this as possible, hustle them to take more photos for more money. There is no real interaction at all, and the tourists, scared by the hustling, run off withing minutes with the most limited knowledge of Mursi life. What I loved about the film though, was how the film-makers, having won the trust of the Mursi, showed the tribe as they normally are away from foreign eyes. For the Mursi it seemed a great joke to dress up and paint themselves in a manner far removed from their traditions to scam the tourists. It felt like one way that they could gain agency in their otherwise powerless situation. While the behaviour of the tourists leads the viewer to question their own actions abroad, the warmth that the Mursi bring to the film saves it from being too bleak.

Where the Water Meets the Sky (dir. David Eberts)
When Morgan Freeman starting narrating the rural life of Samfya in Northen Zambia I wondered what kind of National Geographic film we were going to get. Instead, Where the Water Meets the Sky documents the work of international volunteers from Camfed to bring together a group of women from different background and teach them the skills they need to tell their stories through film. The result is the first film ever to be produced in Zambia, the story of Penelop who had to turn to prostitution after both her parents died of AIDS. Their film is shown around the community and beyond to encourage AIDS testing and highlight the plight of orphans. It was heartwarming to see these women, who had never been able to talk publicly about their problems before, come together and create something that both gives them a real sense of achievement and benefits the whole community.