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Moolaadé

Directed by Ousmane Sembène
Senegal
2004
124 mins

Synopsis

An impassioned, uplifting and rousing story about one courageous mother who fights against the practice of genital mutilation.

Collè Ardo (Fatoumata Coulibaly) is the only one in her village who has refused to allow her 15-year-old daughter to be circumcised. One day, four little girls go to the woman's house and ask her for moolaadé – or protection, because they don't want to suffer the ordeal either. The woman holds a rope at the entrance to her hut that no one will be able to pass through. The village is in turmoil, united against Collè Ardo as she tries to resist and assert her own rights – and those of the girls.

Films showing at this event

Niaye

Adopted from Sembène’s own novel White Genesis, Niaye is a short film about a 13-year-old girl from a small village whose pregnancy scandalizes her community.

Tickets

Sun 16 June 2024, 12:30am
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Assisted ListeningWheelchairSubtitled
Get advanced access to tickets with a Flexipass
Tickets on sale 7 May 2025
  • Original Title
    Protection
  • Year
    2004
  • Country
    Senegal, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon, France
  • Language
    In Bambara and French with English subtitles
  • Director
    Ousmane Sembène
  • Producer
    Thierry Lenouvel, Ousmane Sembène
  • Cast
    Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maïmouna Hélène Diarra, Salimata Traoré
  • Screenwriter
    Ousmane Sembène
  • Cinematographer
    Dominique Gentil
  • Editor
    Abdellatif Raïss
  • Genre
    Africa, Focus on Women, Festival Award Winners, Cinephile, Human Rights, Retrospective, Cannes Selected
Aboriginal FlagTorres Strait Flag

Sydney Film festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.

We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

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