Ganbanaaxu Fedde: a transnational anti-slavery movement
by Lotte Pelckmans
France, Mali, Denmark 2024 | 36 min documentary
Language: Soninke and French with English subitles
The movie features interviews with activists from Ganbanaaxun Fedde, a social movement who is fighting for ‘equality’ in West African post-slavery societies such as Mali. Most of the descendants of the formerly enslaved in these countries still suffer from various forms of discrimination. Some are vulnerable to actual forms of dispossession, labour exploitation and forced displacement, others are stigmatized in more subtle and symbolic realms such as the ritual divisions of labour, social organization of space and stigmatizing comments. Through four cases, the movie shows how the success of the movement polarized debates about the legacy of slavery in Africa and led to a crystallization of identity politics, ultimately culminating in violence rather than reconciliation.
The movement Ganbanaaxun Fedde (meaning the 'federation of equality' in Soninke) gained momentum from late 2016 among diasporic Soninke-speaking groups, who act and speak up against their ongoing discrimination based on the internal African slave past. The movements’ steering committee is based in a central hub for the Soninke diapora: Paris. While the movement is transregional and transnational, the focus is on four cases from Western Mali, documenting struggles over land, endogamy, incarceration and displacement. Through the clever use of WhatsApp groups, ambitious Mauritanian students in Paris succeeded in obtaining active members among people categorised as 'kome' in West Africa. ‘Kome’ literally means ‘enslaved’ but continues to be used to refer to the supposed ‘descendants of formerly enslaved’ among Soninke speakers in Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia and their worldwide diasporas.
The second short documentary we will be showing is:
3 Stolen Cameras
Directed and produced by RåFILM (a Swedish collective of filmmakers) and Equipe Media (a Western Sahara activist group)
Western Sahara, Sweden 2017 | 17 min documentary
Language: Arabic with English subitles
The movie features members of the video activist group Equipe Media risking severe consequences as they use their cameras to document the Moroccan kingdoms’ violations of human rights in what is known as Africa’s last colony – Western Sahara.
No journalists are allowed entry, and the only images that find their way out of the territory are the ones Equipe Media manages to film in secret, hiding on roof tops. They film police and military attacks on peaceful demonstrations as well as testimonies of violence that Sahrawis are exposed to in their everyday life. This short documentary provides unique footage from an area where the Moroccan authorities have managed to implement a near total media blockade.
TRIGGER WARNING
Some audiences may find the verbal and visual content of this movie triggering or offensive as it contains polarized discourses and visual representations of violence. The material includes content that touches on: physical beating, images of destruction of villages and property, demonstrations of people showing posters with wounded people, pictures of a woman who got killed. We ask attending audiences who may feel triggered, overwhelmed, or panicked by the content to take the necessary steps for their emotional safety. This may include withdrawing from the presentation or reaching out to one of the event organisers for support.