African movie!

Okay, it felt pretty colonial/patronizing/weird for the inflight magazine to have a special star next to a film that read “African Movie!” but I fell for it. 

I tried to get books on Uganda to read on my way here and failed. I didn’t even read my Lonely Planet Uganda in advance, so here was a chance at redemption- a film. Anyway, the only one with English subtitles was from Burkina so that doesn’t really count, but I watched it to get into the mood of the continent at least (if there is such a thing). 

I really wanted this to be good. There was a 10 year old kid who could act, so that was nice. I also relearned a little about the role of elders in a village and some of the dynamics with white outsiders. But mostly I was distracted by the terrible writing, terrible acting, and really jarring use of slow-motion montages. 

Plot summary: white man returns to village with biracial daughter. Mute woman kidnaps girl. Child ends up having cancer and dies. 

Here's the thing- it was pretty clear from the first two seconds that the only female protagonist was the girl's mother. She apparently hasn't spoken for 9 years and the girl was 9 years old. She ran away when the white dude returned but he really wanted to speak to her about something. She kidnapped the girl and mothered her for days. This is all fine, except there was this moment toward the end that was set up as this big reveal- there's dramatic silence, a drawn out confession by the white dude- She is her mother! Apparently we weren't supposed to know this incredibly un-subtle plot twist until that moment.  Hollywood has spoiled me.