MOYO Lecture Theatre Cinema shows the film ‘FATUMA – Struggles and Successes of a Woman in Tanzania’
On the evening of 11 December, another MOYO lecture theatre cinema event took place at the University’s GeiWi campus.
The programme featured the film ‘FATUMA – Struggles and Successes of a Woman in Tanzania.’ Fatuma is a 2018 Tanzanian feature film directed by Jordan Riber, who produced it together with his parents John Riber and Louise Riber. The film was highly praised by critics and won several awards at international film festivals.
The film is about the hard life of a woman and her daughter in the countryside, where they face several challenges when a man interferes in their daughter’s life. In the fertile and picturesque landscape of northern Tanzania, Fatuma and her daughter Neema secure their family’s livelihood with their never-ending field work. Fatuma joins a group of women who market their produce profitably via the internet. When her husband wants to marry off their daughter to collect a bride price and also sells the women’s harvest to a local trader at below market value, it is time for Fatuma to stand up against his power and ingratitude.
This was followed by a stimulating discussion and questions with Prof. Dr. habil. Belachew Gebrewold, Ethiopian-Austrian political scientist, Head of the Department of Social Work at the Management Center Innsbruck, lecturer at the University of Innsbruck, and Benedicta Apuamah, M.A. International Health and Social Management, project staff member at MCI, Nigeria.
In addition to issues such as women’s rights and equal treatment, topics such as property rights as a relic of colonialism and climate change, as well as fundamental questions of Western development work, were also touched upon. However, change takes time and does not happen overnight, as the history of women in Europe shows us. Here, too, absolute equality has not yet been achieved, as the current gender pay gap ranking shows. It is also important to involve both women and men in this process of change.
Many thanks to all participants. Asante Sana!