Sisters In Law Cameroon / UK
2006, 104min.
Prod./Dir. of Phot.: Kim Longinotto, Script: Florence Ayisi, Dir.: Kim Longinotto, Florence Ayisi, Compos.: D'Gary, Sound: Mary Milton, Edit.: Ollie Huddleston
Cast: Vera Ngassa, Beatrice Ntuba.
Six–year-old Manka has run away from home, fleeing her abusive aunt. Sonita has daringly accused her neighbor of rape. Amina has decided to end her brutal marriage by taking her husband to court. Set in Kumba, a small town in the Cameroon, Sisters in Law follows the work of the female State Counsel Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba as they help women determined to put an end to their abusive personal lives. Incredibly moving and at times disturbing, Kim Longinotto’s film spectacularly encompasses courage, hope, and the possibility of change.
Production Company
Vixen Films
26 Balfour Road
London N5 2HE, England
Telephone +44 (0)20 7359 7368
tg@tgraham.demon.co.uk
Awards
Prix Art et Essai & Special Mention Europa Cinemas (Cannes IFF); Best Documentary Film (Hawaii IFF ); Winner Audience Award (International Documentary Festival, Amsterdam, IDFA); Social Justice Award for Documentary Film (Santa Barbara IFF); Audience Award (Royal Anthropological Institute FF, London); Best International Documentary (Real Life on FF, Melbourne); Best International Film (The Tel-Aviv Intl Documentary FF); First Maysles Award (Belfast FF); Silver Award (Al-Jazeera TV Festival); Jury Prize, Long Feature Film (Human Rights Nights FF, Bologna, Italy); Audience Award (Commonwealth FF); Special Documentary Prize (Munich Documentary FF).
| Longinotto, Kim Kim Longinotto (born 1952, London)
Internationally acclaimed director Kim Longinotto is one of the preeminent documentary filmmakers working today, renowned for creating extraordinary human portraits and controversial topics with sensitivity and compassion. Longinotto's films have won international acclaim and dozens of premiere awards at festivals worldwide. Highlights include the Amnesty International DOEN Award at IDFA and Best Doc UK Spotlight at Hot Docs for The Day I Will Never Forget; the Grand Prize for Best Documentary San Francisco IFF and Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago IFF for Divorce Iranian Style; Best Documentary at Films de Femmes, Creteil for Dream Girls; and Outstanding Documentary at the SF Gay and Lesbian FF for Shinjuku Boys. Longinotto studied camera and directing at England's National Film School, where she made Pride Of Place, a critical look at her boarding school, and Theatre Girls, documenting a hostel for homeless women. After graduating from the NFS, she worked as the cameraperson on a variety of documentaries for TV. In 1986, Longinotto formed the production company Twentieth Century Vixen with Claire Hunt. Together they made Fireraiser, a look at Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris and the bombing of Dresden during WWII; Eat the Kimono, about the controversial Japanese feminist performer Hanayagi Genshu; Hidden Faces, the internationally acclaimed documentary with/about Egyptian women; and The Good Wife of Tokyo about women, love and marriage in Japanese society. With Jano Williams, Longinotto directed the audience-pleaser Dream Girls, a BBC-produced documentary of the spectacular Japanese musical theatre company; and Shinjuku Boys, about three Tokyo women who live as men. Next, she made Rock Wives for Channel 4 about the wives and girlfriends of rock stars, followed by Divorce Iranian Style with Ziba Mir-Hosseini, about women and divorce in Iran. Gaea Girls made with Jano Williams is about women wrestlers in Japan. Runaway was also made with Ziba Mir-Hosseini and is set in a refuge for girls in Tehran. Her film The Day I Will Never Forget, about young girls in Kenya challenging the tradition of female circumcision, premiered in the US at Sundance in 2003. Sisters in Law, set in Cameroon, premiered and won two prizes at Cannes.
Filmography
Underage (1982), Eat the Kimono (1989), The Good Wife of Tokyo (1992), Dream Girls (1994), Shinjuku Boys (1995), Rock Wives (1996, TV), Divorce Iranian Style (1998), Gaea Girls (2000), Runaway (2001), The Day I Will Never Forget (2002), Sisters in Law (2005), Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (2007), Rough Aunties (2008).
Ayisi, Florence Florence Ayisi
Florence Ayisi studied producing and directing at the Northern School of Film and Television (NSTV) in Leeds, England. She co-directed the documentary Reflections, about a black British dancer-choreographer in Cardiff. She completed a short film, My Mother: Isange to mark International Women’s Day. She teaches practice-based research at the International Film School Wales, University of Wales, Newport.
Filmography
Reflections (2003), My Mother: Isange (2005).
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