The purpose of the African Women in Cinema Blog is to provide a space to discuss diverse topics relating to African women in cinema--filmmakers, actors, producers, and all film professionals. The blog is a public forum of the Centre for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema.

Le Blog sur les femmes africaines dans le cinéma est un espace pour l'échange d'informations concernant les réalisatrices, comédiennes, productrices, critiques et toutes professionnelles dans ce domaine. Ceci sert de forum public du Centre pour l'étude et la recherche des femmes africaines dans le cinémas.

ABOUT THE BLOGGER

My photo
Director/Directrice, Centre for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema | Centre pour l'étude et la recherche des femmes africaines dans le cinéma

Translate

Search This Blog

20 December 2021

African Women's Cinematic Storytelling through Sports: Empowering women and girls, raising awareness

African Women's Cinematic Storytelling through Sports:
Empowering women and girls, raising awareness
Report by Beti Ellerson

Sport has demonstrated its enormous capacity to propel women and girls’ empowerment. It mobilizes the global community and speaks to youth. It unites across national barriers and cultural differences. It is a powerful tool to convey important messages in a positive and celebratory environment – often to mass audiences. In addition, it teaches women and girls the values of teamwork, self-reliance and resilience; has a multiplier effect on their health, education and leadership development; contributes to self-esteem, builds social connections, and challenges harmful gender norms.

Many actors in the sport ecosystem are making significant strides to advance gender equality. For example, organizations are developing their sport at the grassroots level for women and girls; implementing gender equality strategies; creating their safeguarding policies; increasing the participation of women in leadership and at all levels of the profession; increasing resource allocation for women’s sports; doing better and more media coverage; marketing free from gender bias and promoting women’s achievements.

Furthermore, sport in its most basic form encourages balanced participation and has the capacity to promote gender equality (Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls). Through sport and physical activity, women and girls can be empowered and benefit from the positive impact that sport has on health and psychosocial conditions.

Female participation in sport also challenges stereotypes and social roles commonly associated with women. Sport can help women and girls demonstrate their talents and achievements to society by emphasizing their skills and abilities. This, in turn, improves self-esteem and self-confidence in women participants. Sport also offers opportunities for social interaction and friendship, which can raise awareness of gender roles among male counterparts and convey social and psychological benefits to both individuals and groups.

Source: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/3/news-sport-for-generation-equality

African women in cinema are active participants in the empowerment and promotion of women and girls in sport as they direct their cameras towards the collective stories through documentary and fiction of the journeys of women and girls through sport.

Florence Ayisi's Zanzibar Soccer Queens offers a fascinating insight into women and sport in the majority Muslim population of Zanzibar, especially as it relates to culturally defined roles for women and their bodies.

Similarly, Oufsaiyed Elkhortoum (Khartoum Offside) by Marwa Zein, focuses on the dreams of Sara and her sport-loving friends who hope one day to form a Sudanese national soccer team and participate in the FIFA Women's World Cup, despite the fact that this image does not fit the Muslim society’s traditional image of a woman.

In the same way, Naziha Arebi's Freedom Fields traces the hopes of a team of women in post-revolution Libya, as soccer is the metaphor for empowerment and struggle.

Mayye Zayed's Ash Ya Captain | Lift Like a Girl is a coming of age story of 14-year-old Zebiba as she goes from victories to defeats, in pursuit of her dream to become a professional weightlifter.

Similarly, La Boxeuse | Boxing Girl by Iman Djionne follows the adventures of 17-year-old Adama after finding a pair of red boxing gloves.

Jessie Chisi's boxing story, Between Rings: The Esther Phiri Story focuses on her cousin a champion woman boxer, "torn between marriage and career because she could not have both worlds as one conflicted with the other".

In addition, women pursue nontraditional area such as motorcycling, which is the focus on Joan Kabugu's Throttle Queens.

Moreover, women's sport's movies include the stories of triumph by boys and men who pursue sport despite physical challenges. For instance, Yveline Nathalie Pontalier's film project about a team of deaf soccer players and Ngardy Conteh's documentary about an amputee soccer team of child survivors of the civil war in Sierra Leone.

These and other cinematic stories are among the posts on the African Women in Cinema Blog highlighting African women's storytelling through sports:

Boxing. Iman Djionne: La Boxeuse | Boxing Girl
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/02/festival-films-femmes-afrique-2020_17.html
 
Soccer. Marwa Zein: Oufsaiyed Elkhortoum | Khartoum Offside
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/01/oufsaiyed-elkhortoum-khartoum-offside.html
 
Weightlifting. Mayye Zayed: Ash Ya Captain | Lift Like a Girl
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/08/mayye-zayed-ash-ya-captain-lift-like.html
 
Posted by at
Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Relevant comments are welcome - Les discussions constructives sont les bienvenues

Blog Archive