Moolaadé - Suojelus

Moolaadé is evidence of the rise of African cinema, where the best films are now fully acceptable to demanding viewers anywhere in the world. The script, direction, camera work, and editing are professional, while the acting falls behind, as some actors simply recite their lines from the perspective of viewers raised on professional Euro-American productions. The film also includes scenes and dialogues with a somewhat educational tone, which is fully understandable from the creators' point of view and does not diminish the quality of the film. Emotionally powerful, the film deals with the issue of female genital mutilation, which exacts a cruel toll in the form of mutilated or deceased girls in Africa. The film utilizes modern techniques of European cinema, but it is purely an African affair. It is not a film about Africa from the perspective of a European intellectual, but a film made by an African for the African population. The film is also interesting in terms of the shift in thinking among African elites. Just 15-20 years ago, the main theme of African films was the struggle against colonialism and Euro-American cultural influence. In Moolaadé, the fight is against cultural backwardness, and the bearers of new ideas are people with experience from the developed world, namely a retired mercenary who served in UN peacekeeping units, and a young man from the tribal elite who was sent to Europe to study by his father. Overall impression: 75%. (22.10.2007)