WUNRN
TALL AS THE BAOBAB TREE - FILM ON
EARLY MARRIAGE IN SENEGAL
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In the struggle to end early marriage, it’s
the teenagers and pre-teens who are on the front lines. Their generation’s
voice is the most important – but often, it’s the least heard.
When I first travelled to the
We became friends, and soon collaborated on
a short video project about their everyday lives. I had no idea that the
stories they’d share would open a window into the world of forced early
marriage, revealing their deeply conflicting emotions behind this important
global issue.
Five years later, our small video project
has grown into an internationally acclaimed, award-winning feature film called Tall
as the Baobab Tree (Grand comme le Baobab). Hailed by Development in
Action as “effectively unpicking the complexity of cultural change,” the film
has emerged as a powerful voice from rural
Based on the actors’ own experiences, Tall
as the Baobab Tree tells the story of child marriage in rural
Tall as the Baobab Tree is now available to
download and stream: www.tallasthebaobabtree.com/watch
Tall as the Baobab Tree has grown into something
more than an advocacy film — the Sundance Institute included Tall as the Baobab
Tree among their “favorite modern work” this year, while the New York Times
compared the film to the likes of Satyajit Ray.
People around the world who have little to
no knowledge about international development are watching Tall as the Baobab
Tree and learning about early marriage. Even those who do have advocacy
experience are coming away with a deeper understanding of the issue.
For those of us who have spent time in
small villages, we know that stopping early marriage isn’t as easy as passing a
law or holding a seminar. But why, when the proof is so clear, do villages
persist in this harmful practice?
This is the key conflict at the core of Tall
as the Baobab Tree. Through the course of the film’s story, we follow
Coumba, a rebellious teenager, as she attempts to thwart her younger sister’s
upcoming marriage. The film’s story is inspired by real experiences from the
village students’ lives. The students and their families act in the film,
playing fiction versions of themselves, and the entire movie was shot in and
around their homes.
Rather than approaching our early marriage
story with a solution in mind, Tall as the Baobab Tree portrays the
reality of village life from all perspectives, without any judgment.
Ultimately, of course, the realities speak for themselves.
The film does not feel like human rights
piece – it simply captures the emotions of the traditional and modern worlds
colliding.
Tall as the Baobab Tree has screened in nearly 60
villages across
Abroad, from
To us, the small group of young people who
made the film, Tall as the Baobab Tree is about standing up for your
beliefs and doing what you feel is right, no matter what. Tall as the Baobab
Tree channels the energy and idealism of youth while portraying a very
stark and realistic world where change is two steps forward and one step back…
where the invincibility of youth bends beneath the harsh realities of life –
but is never broken.