Moolaadé

The final film from African cinema's founding father, Ousmane Sembene, MOOLAADE is a potent polemic directed against the still-common practice of female circumcision. Though the subject matter may seem weighty, this buoyant film is anything but - Sembene places the action amid a colorful, vibrant tapestry of village life, employing an imaginative array of emblematic metaphors, mythic overtones, and spirited songs. MOOLAADE reinforces the strong feminist consciousness that marked his earlier classics FAAT KINE, BLACK GIRL, and CEDDO. In a small village, four young girls facing ritual 'purification' flee to the household of Collé Ardo Gallo Sy, a strong-willed woman who has managed to shield her own teenage daughter from mutilation. Collé invokes the time-honored custom of moolaadé (sanctuary) to protect the fugitives. Tension mounts as the ensuing stand-off pits Collé against village traditionalists (both male and female) endangering her daughter's prospective marriage to the heir-apparent to the tribal throne.

A sharp critic of the internal problems of modern Africa, but also a passionate advocate of African pride and autonomy, Sembene's fiery spirit will live on beyond the stand-up-and-cheer finale.

Voted Best Foreign Film of the Year by the National Society of Film Critics and the following publications all selected MOOLAADE as One of the Ten Best Films of the Year: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, Boston Globe, LA Weekly, Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, The Village Voice, Houston Chronicle.

DVD Details: Senegal, 2004, 124 minutes, Color, Region 1, NTSC, Widescreen presentation: Enhanced for 16x9 TVs/Letterboxed for 4x3, Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0, In Jula (a dialect of Bambara) and French with optional English subtitles; scene selections. Special Features: A 2-disc set; Featurette: Making of MOOLAADE; Sembene: Portrait of a Filmmaker; footage from the film's African premiere in Burkina Faso; interviews with director Ousmane Sembene and three actresses; interviews with activists in Burkina Faso who speak about female genital mutilation (FGM); promotional film for FORWARD, a U.K. NGO leading the fight against FGM; theatrical trailer; and a 16-page booklet.