I was in Dar EsSalaam at the beginning of December when I bumped into a special screening held in a local cinema on Saturday matineé. I knew nothing about this film, as I was invited by an old friend of mine I visited in Tanzania and I went along.
Well, let me congratulate both the filmmaker and the protagonist who both introduced the film to an enthusiastic crowd of college students and also entertained us afterward with a lovely Q&A also in the company of the protagonist's family. It seemed to me more like a narrative film than a documentary with the filmmaker following Samira's life from 2009 to 2021 and recording her delicate transformation into a real African role model. What a journey and what a lovely, delicate film! Basedon my experience in traveling, rarely do you see the life of a Zanzibari woman Being scrutinised with such precision and delicacy.
There were a few holes in the storytelling but they added more to the value of the film as they force the viewer to play with his/her own imagination. If the main topic of the film is women's empowerment, I believe that the multilayered storytelling makes this into a special, one-of-a-kind film that is set in Africa and breaks down quite a few prejudices. After all, this is the story of a Muslim woman in her quest to achieve a fair share of happiness, while at the same time, her self-affirmation becomes an inspiration for the crowd present at the cinema.