QUICK’N DIRTY: LIVE FROM BERLIN

The story takes place in a hot and dry African country, its name never revealed (however presumable, given the director’s Chadian nationality). Seventeen-year-old Kellou (Maïmouna Miawama) is repeatedly ostracised by her own community. They blame her for the death of her mother, who passed away at childbirth. She is described as a “daughter of blood”, an accolade no woman wishes to carry. Her father and a lover of around her age about the only people who accept and shelter the beautiful and hapless young woman.

One day, Kellou meets older Aya (Achouackh Abakar Souleymane). She too is a victim of hate. Aya was the midwife in charge of Kellou’s birth, and she has to share the blame of the mother’s death with her surviving daughter. Plus, she was conceived in a “night of stars” (known locally as the titular “soumsoum”). This means that her mother engaged in a strange mating ritual during a starry night in order to to get pregnant. She had to pick one man to have sex with from a group of masked males dancing prancing around. She chose the one with a monkey face. This ostensibly means she is the byproduct of sin. She is thus called a “daughter of the moon” – a title even less enviable than “daughter of blood”.

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun – regarded as the first Chadian filmmaker to direct a feature-length film (Bye Bye Africa, from 1999) – skilfully blends the real, the imaginary and the allegorical in his latest creation. He seeks to question as well as to celebrate the orthodox traditions of his continent. While the local beliefs repeatedly castigate these female characters, they also have the power to liberate them.

Kellou and Aya are deemed witches, and their reunion ruffles a lot of feathers. Kellou’s father does his utmost in order to separate the two women. Kellou has a supernatural skill: visions of the past. She uses them as a valuable weapon against the various oppressive forces cornering her. The old-fashioned machinations of the patriarchy are so effective that they punish women in life and death. In its final denouement, Kellou unites with Aya in the most extreme of situations, desperately seeking redemption. It is sorority that prevails. Be prepared for a very strong resolution.

This is a movie with a very interesting premise: the midwife and the child are to blame for the death of the woman who gave birth. On the other hand, its execution is problematic. The cinematography is elegant however monotonous. Shades of yellow mirror the colour of the arid soil, the barren canyons (magnificent with a multitude of shapes and forms), and the terracotta houses. The make-up is iffy, and editing a little clumsy. More significantly, the contrived dialogues and the very stagey performances dent the movie’s pathos. Overall, this is a memorable film that will provoke reflection, without eliciting profound emotions and tears.

Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars just premiered in the Official Competition of the 76th Berlinale.