Cinema
Arusi ya Mariamu
Synopsis
Mariamu, gravely ill, wastes away from one hospital to another without the doctors managing to cure her. Since childhood she has kept a panic fear of healers, and those around her are torn between modern medicine and the values of tradition. Faced with the failure of the hospitals, her husband Sekondo understands that there is no other way out than to take her to the healer.
Context
The film was produced by the Tanzania national film company and Ron Mulvihill, and distributed in the United States in 1985 by African Family Films. Shot in Swahili, it runs thirty-six minutes and features the playwright and academic Amandina Lihamba in the role of Mariamu, with Godwin Kaduma, Thecla Mjatta, Julieth Kibwana and a healer who plays himself. The foreign sponsors required English subtitles in order to show it at festivals, which earned it a circulation in educational institutions.
Who it is for
A medium-length film in Swahili, subtitled in English. It can be watched without prior knowledge.
Prizes and reception
Shown at the Turin international young cinema festival, it is still used in the teaching of the Swahili language and culture.
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