Flora’s big break as AISHA receives global recognition

For Flora Nicholas Mdahila, September 25, 2017 is a day she will never forget.

Flora, a girl from Msaraza Village in Pangani District, Tanga, did not dream that one day she would be lifted from village life to international fame.

Flora, who played Miriam, Aisha’s little sister in the famed film AISHA, which was produced by a Pangani-based non-profit organization specializing in grassroots interventions through theatre to depict gang rape and other forms of gender violence against women and girls, has now won an international film award.

On September 25, this year, Flora who played one of the main roles in the film was informed that she had been nominated for the SOTIGUI AWARD, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Though according to Pangani NGO UZIKWASA Communications Officer Mohammed Hammie (Uncle Mo), this was only a nomination and she had not yet won the award, it was still a big achievement for the young actress.

The award has been established in honour of Sotigui Kouyaté (19 July 1936 – 17 April 2010), one of the first Burkinabe actors. He was the father of film director Dani Kouyate and was a member of the Mandinka ethnic group.

The aim of the award is promote talented artists from Africa and introduce them to the world.

The feature film AISHA was produced in 2015 in Pangani District as part of a communication programme of the UZIKWASA. “It is a film for and by the people of Pangani with more than 90 per cent of actors being local residents,” according to Uncle Mo.

In the film’s story, AISHA, a young, ambitious businesswoman living in the city returns to her home village to attend the wedding of her younger sister (Miriam), whereby she reconnects with her past, meeting family and friends.

However, something unexpected that has disastrous consequences for her life happens. She is gang-raped in a fashion that has been proved to be rampant in Pangani called ‘Mtungo’ or ‘Mande’.

In the film, everyone else would rather turn a blind eye, but Aisha decides to fight the tough battle for justice.

As a result of her work in AISHA, Flora has gained recognition not only in Tanzania, but also globally. The film was selected for screening by over 20 international film festivals in the USA, Europe, Asia and Africa and received awards in the United States and several African countries, including at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) in 2016.

Flora was born at Msaraza village, Bushiri ward, Pangani. She says since her childhood she has been fascinated with performing arts and acting. “Whenever I got a chance, I enjoyed watching feature films,” Flora says, in an interview in Bushiri. She adds that her biggest dream was that one day she would act in a film.

She further reminisces that in her zeal to live up to her dream, in 2013 she mobilized likeminded young people in her village and together they started a drama group.

“Ever since, I have been working with a number of village actors from different drama groups with whom I meet regularly to practice my acting skills until one day I won selection to be in the cast of Aisha film production,” says Flora.

Her effort has not been in vain, says UZIKWASA’s Dr Vera Pieroth who was also the executive producer of Aisha which was co-produced with Kijiweni Productions of Dar es Salaam. “Film professionals saw her talent and nominated her for the SOTIGUI Award in the Eastern Africa category,” said Dr Vera.

She congratulated Flora for the big achievement, saying they were keeping fingers crossed that she would make it to the end.

The journey to international fame of Pangani based actors began with the popular ‘Fimbo ya Baba’ (father’s stick), a feature film, which was about early and forced marriage in 2006. It followed the second, Chukua Pipi, “Sweet Deceipt” about the sexual abuse of a schoolgirl by an older man. Aisha film actors and directors won awards at the Zanzibar Film Festival (ZIFF) awards ceremony.

Dr. Pieroth says that her organization has been emphasizing in using and grooming local talent from villages where several theatre groups have been formed with the patronage of UZIKWASA.

“The nomination of Miriam is a great honor to the organization and to Pangani and leap towards enhancing the district as the hub of Tanzania’s film industry,” said Dr. Kieroth.

Sotigui Kouyaté was born in Mali to Guinean parents and is Burkinabé by adoption. When he was a child, he enjoyed koteba performances. Kouyaté began his theatre career in 1966, when he appeared as adviser to the king in a historical play produced by his friend Boubacar Dicko. That year, he founded a theatre company with 25 people and soon wrote his first play, The Crocodile’s Lament’.

From 1990 to 1996 Kouyaté toured the United States and Europe as part of La Voix du Griot (“Voice of the Griot”), a storytelling theater show he founded. He has always defended African culture. He is quoted as saying in interview that, “if you forget your culture, you lose sight of yourself. It is said that “the day you no longer know where you’re going, just remember where you came from. ” Our strength lies in our culture. Everything I do as a storyteller, a ‘griot’, stems from this rooting and openness,” Kouyate is quoted as adding.

In 2009, Kouyaté won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his acting. He played the main male character in Rachid Bouchareb’s drama London River, about the 2005 London bombings. On 17 April 2010, he died in Paris.