3/19/14
Women in Africa
Film Review Dance can be used as a source of therapy where one can express their emotions whether it is positive or negative, through each movement. In the past and maybe still today, women in Tanzania were not allowed to speak about nor complain about the lack of support they get from their husband. Women in Tanzania use the movements of dance to portray how they are the actual providers in their family and to express how their husbands are useless to the necessities they need in their life.
In the film Flora M’mbugu-Schelling, the filmmaker sets a goal of making sure the audience gains complete knowledge and visualization on the lives of women in Tanzania. The purpose of the film was to allow the audience to “finally” hear the voices of Tanzanian women and witness the vivid work they have to do in their everyday lives. The filmmaker immediately grabs the audience’s attention by starting off the film with the translated interviews. The filmmaker wanted to portray the material poverty of the Tanzanian women lives. For instance, Mama Costa interview was first to appear on the film. The interview took place at her house while she was in the mist of making food for her children and herself. Mama Costa explains her role as a woman which includes earning money to support her family. She farmed and would plant rice and maize in her field while her children would collect cashenuts to fry. They would sell the rice, maize and nuts in order to buy commodities that were beneficial to them (sugar and soap).
After Mama Costa’s interview, the narration about the Tanzanian culture begins throughout the film along with the different scenes being shown. Women brewing beer, preparing vegetables, and making pots to sell was some of the scenes being shown. This not only introduced to the audience how the Tanzanian women make money, it helped them visualize how intense the work was. Mama Maria gained a skill of making pots and passed