Where The Water Meets The Sky
European premiere, 28th Cambridge Film Festival
Four stars
Morgan Freeman's dulcet tones are enough to attune even the most stubborn ear. But here is a work with such a straightforward message, conveyed with such clean simplicity, that no amount of persuasion is needed. It has already picked up acclaim at the Jackson Hole Film Festival, opened by UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, and is now set on course to cause waves in Europe too.
This is a film about a film. That is where it differs from the vast majority of documentary material to come out of Africa. An artistic medium uses itself to deliver a statement, and, as a result, is absolutely convincing. There is no presenter to intervene, no reportage- just a direct line between image, narration and viewer. This film is timely ; so many tales of the horrors of HIV and AIDS adorn news bulletins and the printed press that the reality and severity of a pandemic which splits families and communities has lost the presence it needs. This film turns the tables.
The Samfya Women Filmmakers, as they are known, are a group of revolutionary women. They are the lucky bunch who were approached by Cambridge-based Camfed, the Campaign for Female Education, to learn filmmaking techniques and then employ them to good effect. In a place where people live in a straw huts, and there is no real infrastructure, letalone electricity, a camera is completely novel and fascinating, if not scary. Here is a tool which transcends language ; it says what words cannot. It is on this premise that the women are encouraged to discuss their lives in a patriarchal society where it is ‘customary for women not to speak their mind in front of men.' This is something of an understatement ; sexual favours are often a bargaining chip, and the men are jealous. They wonder why they are not allowed to get involved in the project.
‘If you share something... the burden on your heart becomes lighter' says Penelop, on whom the tale is based. At 14, she was driven to prostituion to avert starvation, having lost both parents to AIDS.
Though unsophisticated, this film is a rich tapestry of colour and natural expanse, a backdrop to an intimate tale. It is a forthright plea for support of a conviction that many economists is the key to the development and industrialisation of Africa- the education of women. ‘The journey you...take with the women of Samfya reminds us of the great potential in every individual.' Morgan Freeman has hit the nail on the head.
Guy Kiddey
