Dirs. Florence Ayisi/Kim Longinotto, Cameroon/UK, 2005, 104 mins Cast: Vera Ngassa, Beatrice Ntuba Review by Joyce Dundas This fly-on-the-wall documentary concentrates on two remarkable women in Kumba, Cameroon - the state prosecutor, Vera Ngassa and Beatrice Ntuba, the judge in the magistrate's court. The film looks at the day-to-day issues these women deal with as they try to break down the traditions and prejudices of a very male-dominated society. They deal with harrowing cases of child abuse, wife-beating and rape. It is obvious the filmmakers were given extensive access to the women’s private sessions, which took place behind closed doors. It is directed by Kim Longinotto, whose last documentary The Day I Will Never Forget dealt with female genital mutilation in Kenya, and Florence Ayisi, and was commissioned by FilmFour. Even though the film deals with the law and legal issues, it never at any times flags or becomes bogged down, because both these women are dynamic and extremely strong characters. It shows how the work they are doing is changing what Ms Ngassa calls “customary thinking”, where traditionally certain behaviour has been tolerated. These women say they are using the law at a “grassroots level” to change that thinking. The most harrowing and shocking case they deal with in the film is one of an aunt severely beating the children in her care and not really understanding fully that this behaviour is legally and morally reprehensible. This makes for one of the best and most telling scenes in the film as it shows how Ms Ngassa’s temper sometimes frays when she is faced with such intractability. The young woman tries to endear herself by calling Ms Ngassa “sister” several times. The prosecutor snaps back at her in no uncertain terms: “I am not your sister.” Both women attended the Cannes Film Festival in 2005, where the film was shown as part of the sidebar event, Directors' Fortnight and won the Prix Art Essai, one of the highest in that section. Talking about the film during Cannes, the impressive Ms Ngassa said that she was influenced at a very early age to enter law after reading To Kill a Mokingbird and that Atticus Finch was one of her earliest role models. She is certainly no less enigmatic than Harper Lee’s famous creation, if a lot less mild-mannered. The film received a standing ovation at every screening during the festival and, though emotional, it is a positive and uplifting documentary. The work the women are doing has also been given the full support of Cameroon’s Minister of Justice Amadou Ali. It’s a fascinating study of attempts to change things from the inside.
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