Mami Wata

The Sunday, October 15 screening will include a post-film panel discussion featuring Dr. DeAnna Daniels, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies (UA), and Giramata, Doctoral Candidate in Gender & Women’s Studies (UA). Moderated by Mia Farrell, Director of The Hansen Institute for Film & Television (UA).

In the waters off the coast of West Africa swims the powerful mermaid goddess, Mami Wata. Divining her whims and wishes falls to Mama Efe (Rita Edochie), a revered intermediary for the townspeople of Iyi. But when a young boy is lost to a virus, Efe’s devoted daughter Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and skeptical protégé Prisca (Evelyne Ily Juhen) warn Efe about unrest among the villagers. With the sudden arrival of a mysterious rebel deserter named Jasper (Emeka Amakeze), a conflict erupts, leading to a violent clash of ideologies and a crisis of faith for the people of lyi. Director C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi’s potent modern fable deploys vivid monochromatic black-and-white cinematography, rich sound design, and a hypnotic score in a folk-futurist style both earthy and otherworldly. Obasis depicts a pitched battle between opportunistic militants promising technological progress and a matriarchal spiritual order living in fragile harmony with the ocean. Mami Wata transports us to a place that seems both suspended in time and perhaps running out of time, as the threats of modern life wash up on its shores. (Dir. by C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi, 2023, Nigeria/France/UK, in West African Pidgin with English subtitles, 107 mins., Not Rated)

Other festivals: Sundance, Fantasia, African Film Festival New York