Moolaade

Senegalese writer-director Ousmane Sembene makes an impassioned plea against the practice of salinde, or female circumcision, in this moving portrait of a society in transition. In a West African village run by uncompromising Muslim males, fiery Colle (Fatoumata Coulibaly), provides safe harbor for young girls fleeing their "cleansing" rituals. Colle casts a "moolaade" spell which will bring harm to anyone who attempts to hurt those under her care, and the villagers are angry but powerless in the face of this magic. But what one man terms "a minor domestic issue" soon puts the whole town on the verge of bloodshed. In Senegalese with English subtitles (2004, 124 minutes)