Making a factual documentary film to help end Female Genital Mutilation in The Gambia

What is it about?

Factual documentary film can be an effective tool in the campaign to end FGM but most films are made for an international audience in order to raise awareness. My FGM story is a film set in The Gambia where 75% of girls are cut and people already know about FGM and have their own views. The film is made in collaboration with Gambian activists and journalists and contains interviews with The President of Gambia, lawyers, Imams as well as survivors and their families. The film targets the audience who cut their girls in order to expose some of the myths surrounding FGM and allow people to change their minds. The key finding of the research was that the most effective film should be made in a collaborative style considering the nuances of the local culture and traditions.

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Photo by Britt Weckx on Unsplash

Photo by Britt Weckx on Unsplash

Why is it important?

It is important to end harmful traditions like FGM. This film is important because it uses traditional documentary methods to allow people to see other points of view in a nuanced way. The film asks questions and allows the viewer to look again at harmful traditions and ask whether practices can change as a growing number of people change their minds and support an ending to FGM. The results of the research show some people who had previously assumed FGM was a good practice have now changed their mind as a result of seeing and discussing the film.

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