Celebrate Int'l Women's Day With Cinema Politica

By: iO Staff, March 6, 2012

WOMEN MAKE FILMS - Sister Fa is a Senegalese rapper whose fight to end female genital cutting is the subject of a Cinema Politica documentary, SARABAH.

Rapper, singer and activist, Sister Fa is hero to young women in Senegal and an unstoppable force for social change. A childhood victim of female genital cutting (FGC), she decided to tackle the issue by starting a grassroots campaign, “Education Without Excision,” which uses her music and persuasive powers to end the practice.

Living in Berlin and touring across Europe, until 2010, there was still one place Sister Fa had never brought her message: back home to her own village of Thionck Essyl, where she fears rejection.

This 2011 documentary by Maria Luisa Gambale and Gloria Bremer follows Sister Fa on this challenging journey, where she speaks out passionately to female elders and students alike, and stages a rousing concert that has the community on its feet.

A portrait of an artist as activist, Sarabah shows the extraordinary resilience, passion and creativity of a woman who boldly challenges gender and cultural norms. It’s an inspiring story of courage, hope and change.

Cinema Politica is a Montreal-based media arts, non-profit network of community and campus locals that screen independent political film and video by Canadian and international artists throughout Canada and abroad. Rights to the documentaries in the network are negotiated by the parent organization in Montreal.

Since November 2008, Cinema Politica Cape Cod has been holding weekly screenings during the off-season. The volunteer-run organization is the only CP chapter in the United States. A suggested donation of $5 per screening pays for membership dues, rent, copies, postage, equipment, occasional speakers, and refreshments.