• Release year: 2024
• Director: Hickmatu Bintu Leigh.
• Producer: Oliver Williams.
• Screenplay by: Hickmatu Bintu Leigh.
• Cinematography by: Ibrahim Hamid Koroma.
• Sound Designer: Sahr Martin kabba.

Shotgun Commentary: haunting, stunning, and striking.

Review

Gboroka is a beautiful reminder of one of the biggest horrors that can happen to a woman. FGM, or female genitalia mutilation, is a practice that has been criminalised for years now. Yet, it’s still going strong in Sierra Leone. As mentioned at the end of the piece, according to UNICEF in 2024, “Over 230 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to female genital mutilation”. That is, what looks like a small problem that takes place exceptionally very far away from wherever you’re at, turns out it is neither small nor exceptional. Not that being small would make it any less savage, cruel or absurd.

A twisted premise

The few moments that are accompanied by a narration. The narrator recites the thoughts of these women who are brainwashed to take part in the ritual. Illogical explanations and thoughts that come straight from the roots of a deeply sexist and misogynistic society in which women have to suffer to prove they are worthy of…being women? Existing?

One sentence has stayed with me, “In our world, is it necessary to shed blood in order to be considered a woman?”. This question could be asked anywhere in the world, and the answer is no, but it helps. It helps in the eyes of a society that gaslights you into thinking your endometriosis is just you being dramatic. It helps in a world where a miscarriage might not be treated due to politics created by men with no working neurons.

Yes, a woman who suffers looks weak, and weak is good in a system that plans to commodify women and take as much advantage of the weak as possible. So sadly, regardless of whether you have a period or not, ritual sacrifices are performed everywhere. From the Botox that may destroy your face for the sake of looking younger for an *sshole that will still leave you for a younger girl, to the pointless mutilation of genitalia that, as the film points out, won’t make you feel whole, but incomplete.

Patriarchy slaves

Throughout the whole short, the one thing that keeps occupying your mind, other than the phantom pain if you are a woman, that is, is “why?”. Why would a woman willingly subject herself to this amount of pain? How do you convince a human being to go through that? Well, according to the documentary, the psychological attack comes from three different sides: the lie that it won’t hurt, the need to please men, and the obligation to please your older relatives. Only in this case, it is not a piercing, a date, or a career in medicine. This time it’s mutilation that they are asking of you. So the lying, the manipulation and the psychological warfare have way higher stakes.

Undergoing any kind of surgery, if that’s what you call the butcher attack they suffer, is incredibly painful without anaesthetics. Not to mention that the subjects will move due to the pain, leading to further complications. All of this, for what, again? Pleasing a man? That is one of the core issues of the human race. Only in this case, it is taken to a horribly cruel extreme. Why should women need to please men in order to have any societal value? Aren’t they individuals of their own?

Furthermore, why does is the pleasure of men conditioned to women’s suffering? Does nobody see how messed up that is for both genders? Well, apparently, only 22% of women in this situation do, according to the short, but 72% think it is perfectly reasonable for women to have to mutilate themselves if they want a place in society. So much so that they are willing to lie about the pain and to manipulate their granddaughters, apparently.

A tasteful protest

The horrors of this tradition are stunningly represented in Gboroka. The film doesn’t shy away from the pain of the experience, but it does show it from a distinctly female perspective. This point of view doesn’t capitalise on the gore and nudity of the event. Instead, it showcases the feelings of the women that go through it through performative dance and acting. Both disciplines separated but connected thanks to the spot-on storytelling created during the editing process.

The use of darkness, light, fire, and red and white clothes, gives the whole piece a distinctive aesthetic that accompanies each part of the story and adds symbolism to it. The innocent whites stained by the crimson blood being one of the most graphic and powerful.

All in all, Gboroka is a wonderful short film that utilises several artistic disciplines to highlight one of the world’s cruellest and most sexist traditions. Not only does this work showcase what it is all about, but it also brings forth the horrible brainwashing experienced by the victims before they are subjected to their mutilation.

If you are in London, you can now watch Gboroka at Film Africa on October 26th at 18:00!

Advice to take from this movie:

• Not all traditions should be preserved.
• It’s healthy to challenge your beliefs.
• You don’t need to suffer to be a woman. And you sure as hell don’t need anyone’s approval to be one.

What’s your take? Have you watched Gboroka? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀