Sisters in Law

In my personality, there are two extremes. There's the slick me who likes things plush and luxurious and then there's the grungy me who likes things slightly messy and unpolished. I alternate unpredictably between the two, but this weekend, I've been very much in a grungy phase. Imagine how delighted I was on Saturday afternoon when I remembered I was due to attend a film screening in the headquarters of all things arty and disheveled - Shoreditch!

Feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed because of the lovely weather, I headed down there with my partner in crime and was utterly pleased to find that the venue, Charlie Wrights International Bar, was as Shoreditch as they come. Ecclectic mismatched furniture, scuffed floors, odd stuff on the walls, the faint smell of disinfectant and all sorts of other elements of shabby insousiance...

The screening was put on by a group called Screening Africa, run by my friend Joseph. Once every two months, they show a thought provoking film of African interest accompanied by some delicious African (on this occassion, Nigerian) food.

Sisters in Law, directed by Kim Longinotto is an award-winning and uplifting documentary film focusing on justice in the village of Kumba Town, Cameroon. The town is overseen by the progressive female partnership of a prosecutor and court president, who together help women to speak out and fight back against entrenched roles in society.

While we were spared the gory details, we got to meet a whole group of women and children who had been raped, abused, and beaten to within an inch of their lives by the men in their communities. We saw their pain, and watched them fight victoriously for their rights even amid pressure to drop the case by society.

Far from being a depresseing film though, there were elements of humour to be found in the direct no-frills justice of the legal professionals and the lousy excuses given by all the convicted criminals: 'Please have mercy on me. I am an orphan and I have no one. Punish me but please don't punish me too harshly...'. Puh-lease!

It's a brilliant piece of work a) because it's enlighteneing and b) because it confronts difficult issues head-on without painting Africa in a bad light, which many of these documentaries seem to do. It emphasised hope and progress and liberty rather than injustice, backwardness and ignorance which I imagine is what made it a favourite at worldwide film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival and took it to the last 15 of the Oscar Best Documentary shorlist.

Unfortunately the director couldn't make it or I would have tried to bag an interview. If you'd like to watch it, I believe you can do so via this link

Enjoy!