Sisters In Law (Kim Longinotto, 2007)

Sisters In Law was made in 2007, and is directed by Kim Longinotto. It follows Vera Ngassa and Beatrice Ntuba, two women working in the Cameroonian justice system, specifically fighting against child abuse and abusive relationships, attempting to tackle sexism in the country.

The film is in observational mode, since Kim does not get involved in the film at all, simply staying at a distance from the events shown, documenting them without any interference or input. This allows for a completely uninterrupted film, where the audience watches things happening without narration or opinionated input from the director. Kim probably uses this mode here to show what things are like in Cameroon, and let the audience come to their own conclusions.

I also think the film is in observational mode to get the meaning across in a more subtle way, which is that gender discrimination and inequality still exists in some places, and can be hard to overcome. It aims to show the most unfair and clearly immoral parts of certain society’s, and uses two entertaining and likeable people as a symbol of perseverance through injustice.

The narrative, as the film is observational, follows events as they occur, switching between different cases and characters, and not strictly following Ngassa and Ntuba, instead focusing on whoever’s story best conveys the theme of the film, and showing has events can lead on after court. It also does not switch between time periods to give scenes context or explanations, usually documenting scenes that are self-explanatory.

I personally really enjoyed the film. I felt that a difficult to convey through documentary film was approached in a way that was understandable and entertaining. It’s observational approach made the film easy to follow and immersive, even though the events were real and sometimes slow paced. Another positive was how the film did not cut away from slow or quiet scenes, instead focusing on the reality of the situation, and gave an important message through some interesting filmmaking techniques.