Her Destiny

Details

Vanessa Fernandes | Portugal | 2015 | 21:00

After losing her mother and sister in a tragic car accident in her homeland, Guinea-Bissau, twelve-year-old Awa moves to Portugal with her father. One day her father decides to remarry, and with his new wife comes her grandmother, Fatumata, who becomes a part of Awa’s life. Fatumata is a conservative woman who keeps her homeland’s traditions alive in the immigrant community, she keeps watch over the younger generations and makes sure they still undergo certain ceremonies, such as the initiation that includes female genital mutilation. Fatumata keeps very close watch over the people around her. Their neighbour Aisha, a strong and attractive woman, realises what is happening and tries to draw Abdulay’s attention to the dangers of female genital mutilation, but he does not listen to her. In this ceremony, Abdulay sees a solution for his problems and a way to protect his daughter. Awa senses that Fatumata’s arrival has brought about a great change in her life, since then her father has become more distant and grown colder towards her. Awa stops going to school and is possessed by a great sense of fear that only finds expression in her dreams, a space of fantasy that appears throughout the day; it is her refuge, but it is also where the secrets of this ritual await her, the girls dressed the black, the straw hut and the Fanateca, the old woman who performs the ritual excision. At last her father realises Awa is afraid and decides to free her, but will it be too late?