The Boston Women's Film Festival
By KENZA CHRABI ‘21
On September 29, a group of Milton students and I went to the Museum of Fine Arts to attend the Boston Women's Film Festival, a splendid showcase of new international films directed by women. Focusing on gynocentric plotlines, the festival strives to provide opportunities for women to excel in a male-dominated media industry and also increases recognition of women’s cinema. The festival proudly featured films from a diverse group of women from across the globe who delivered an array of culturally influenced themes and perspectives. The four-day festival encompassed films of different genres while embracing the power and virtuosity in women’s cinema.
The movie we watched, I am Not a Witch, was directed by Rungano Nyoni, a Zambian-Welsh screenwriter and director. Set in Zambia, this satirical, magic realism movie vividly portrays the life of nine-year Shula, who is accused of witchcraft and sent to an open-prison “witch camp.” These so-called witches are tethered to spools of ribbon to prevent them from mystically flying away. Each witch is faced with a choice, forced upon them by the government, to reject her witch identity; however, doing so would transform her into a goat, reduced to a life of ostracism from all communities. Shula chooses the path of a witch, and she is dehumanized and labeled as government property. However, she finds a sense of family, inclusion, and affection within the witch community, which mostly consists of old, frail women. She becomes a valuable asset to the government, who believes that she has the supernatural abilities to summon rain and to immediately discern the guilty among a group of accused individuals. Even so, the impairment of her education, the absence of freedom, and the immoral robbery of her childhood begin to shroud Shula in depression, which she courageously attempts to combat with her roaring inner strength. She experiences an identity crisis when she fails to bring rain when ordered, and she starts to question her decision to become a witch instead of pursuing the despised—but free—life of a goat. Although she says very little throughout the movie, her countenance is enough, acting as a physical representation of her struggle and emotions, evoking admiration and commiseration among the audience. The ending scenes of the movie (no spoilers!) arouse many questions; however, the ambiguous nature of the movie leaves room for personal interpretations.
Accusations of witchcraft and demonic possession against children still exist around the world. According to CNN, in the Nigerian states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River there are “15,000 children branded as witches, and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets.” I am Not a Witch succeeds in illuminating the ludicrous nature of these accusations through juvenalian satire, while highlighting the universal theme of objectification through the pain and dehumanization of the innocent Shula.