By Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater
Mrs. Goundo is fighting to remain in the United States. But it's not just because of the ethnic conflict and drought that has plagued her native Mali. Threatened with deportation, her two-year-old daughter could be forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM), like 85 percent of women and girls in Mali. Using rarely cited grounds for political asylum, Goundo must convince an immigration judge that her daughter is in danger.
Sensitive and moving, this important film reveals how women are profoundly affected by the legal struggles surrounding immigration. As issues of asylum, international law and human rights collide with FGM and its devastating health consequences, filmmakers Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater travel between an FGM ceremony in a Malian village involving dozens of girls to the West African expatriate community of Philadelphia, where Mrs. Goundo challenges beliefs and battles the American legal system for her child's future.
Reviews
~ "Packs a sharp punch equal to that of films twice its length”. The filmmakers seamlessly weave together parallel storylines”.. the soul-sickening footage of anxious-eyed little Malian girls post-excision that makes Mrs. Goundo's point more succinctly than words ever could." - Chris Barsanti, Filmcritic.com
~ "Gracefully depicted and painstakingly observed." - SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival
~ "The filmmakers skillfully interweave the legal case, interviews with 'excisers' in Mali, and candid discussions with Mrs. Goundo and her Malian girlfriends." - Maria Garcia, Film Journal International
~ "Eye-opening”. examines both sides of the issue without judgment or condescension by letting those closest to the subject matter do the talking." - New York Magazine
Note
~ Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
Award
~ SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival
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