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6:00 PM, EAT
Widow Champion
Film screening|A resilient Kenyan widow transforms into a fierce advocate for women's land rights in a highly patriarchal community
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Goethe-Institut, Auditorium
- Price Free
Thrown off their land and out of their homes, widows in rural Kenya are forced to live destitute with their children in markets or under trees. In Kenya, wives often live on the same compound with their husband’s families, and culture dictates that when your husband dies, you must be inherited by one of your husband’s brothers to be ‘cleansed’ and remain part of the family - even with the high rate of HIV in this region. More women are beginning to shun this practice, and are bearing the consequences.
Rodah Nafula suffered the consequences after her husband died 15 years ago, and her in-laws threw her and her three children off the land. After seven years living at the village market under inhumane conditions, Rodah connected with a local NGO, which helped her win back her land through a new community-based mediation program. Rodah then trained to be a “Widow Champion” to help others.
Rodah is the narrative throughline of our film. Everyday, she deals with another widow, another threat, another in-law - all part of the story, as we walk with her through these different spaces. We will follow the case of Mary Atieno for over four years, the passage of time marked by the cycle of rice planting and harvesting.
In an immersive, fly-on-the-wall approach, we’ll interweave Mary’s story with other dramatic and emotional moments from other widows’ stories, to show how prevalent and complex the problem is, with Rodah as our lead.. We’ll also film Rodah as a mother to five children.
Director's Statement |
Zippy Kimundu
Growing up, I came to understand three things - not because anyone said them out loud, but because they were simply part of life; Deep respect for your elders, Deep connection to your ancestral land and the quiet truth that, while men carried the big sticks, it was the women who held the family together.
In Kenya, especially in the rural areas, the issue of land is crucial as people depend on it to earn a living, and to feed and take care of their families. Gains have been made to increase legal protections for women to use, own and inherit land, yet entrenched social norms in communities like Rodah’s often trump the law of the land.
And so, in 2019 when I heard about what was happening with the widows in Kisumu and then met Rodah, we quickly bonded over the work that I was doing around Land Rights - 4 and my personal experience as a teenager, when our family home was burnt down and we were kicked off our land due to politically-charged unrests.
As a Kenyan filmmaker whose stories have often been told from the outside, I believe in telling stories from under-represented communities who are doing extraordinary things for themselves. I follow these trend-setters, so that their stories become a catalyst for change and give agency to fellow women.
‘Widow Champion’ has been described as an experimental court drama that is dramatic, human, loving and stirring enough to open hearts in Kenya and around the globe. For me, Widow Champion is as personal as it is universal – a story and a film that are intricately linked to wherever women’s land rights have been and continue to be denied in many forms.
Kamera Kwanza is a film screening series that fosters and promotes a shared love for films and the art of film making. Focusing on documentaries so far, it has enabled audinces to not only experience authentic stories through film, but also to consistently explore the artistic choices made by the film makers. This allows us to share knowledge and appreciate African experiences.
Rodah Nafula suffered the consequences after her husband died 15 years ago, and her in-laws threw her and her three children off the land. After seven years living at the village market under inhumane conditions, Rodah connected with a local NGO, which helped her win back her land through a new community-based mediation program. Rodah then trained to be a “Widow Champion” to help others.
Rodah is the narrative throughline of our film. Everyday, she deals with another widow, another threat, another in-law - all part of the story, as we walk with her through these different spaces. We will follow the case of Mary Atieno for over four years, the passage of time marked by the cycle of rice planting and harvesting.
In an immersive, fly-on-the-wall approach, we’ll interweave Mary’s story with other dramatic and emotional moments from other widows’ stories, to show how prevalent and complex the problem is, with Rodah as our lead.. We’ll also film Rodah as a mother to five children.
Director's Statement |
Zippy Kimundu
Growing up, I came to understand three things - not because anyone said them out loud, but because they were simply part of life; Deep respect for your elders, Deep connection to your ancestral land and the quiet truth that, while men carried the big sticks, it was the women who held the family together.
In Kenya, especially in the rural areas, the issue of land is crucial as people depend on it to earn a living, and to feed and take care of their families. Gains have been made to increase legal protections for women to use, own and inherit land, yet entrenched social norms in communities like Rodah’s often trump the law of the land.
And so, in 2019 when I heard about what was happening with the widows in Kisumu and then met Rodah, we quickly bonded over the work that I was doing around Land Rights - 4 and my personal experience as a teenager, when our family home was burnt down and we were kicked off our land due to politically-charged unrests.
As a Kenyan filmmaker whose stories have often been told from the outside, I believe in telling stories from under-represented communities who are doing extraordinary things for themselves. I follow these trend-setters, so that their stories become a catalyst for change and give agency to fellow women.
‘Widow Champion’ has been described as an experimental court drama that is dramatic, human, loving and stirring enough to open hearts in Kenya and around the globe. For me, Widow Champion is as personal as it is universal – a story and a film that are intricately linked to wherever women’s land rights have been and continue to be denied in many forms.
Kamera Kwanza is a film screening series that fosters and promotes a shared love for films and the art of film making. Focusing on documentaries so far, it has enabled audinces to not only experience authentic stories through film, but also to consistently explore the artistic choices made by the film makers. This allows us to share knowledge and appreciate African experiences.