Toronto’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2014 Coverage
February 6th, 2014 Sometimes the power of words without images can be just as effective in getting ones point across. In the Shadow of the Sun opens with a phone conversation between an anxious friend and a potential victim on how his kidnapping was thwarted. The formula for victimization (in this case) is deadly simple: In Tanzania, if a black couple gives birth to a child with albinism, that child becomes cursed. In the Shadow of the Sun chronicles the marginalized lives and ritual killings of Tanzanians living on Ukerewe Island with albinism.
In the eyes of many Tanzanians, Josephat Torner is a ghost who they believe just disappears when he dies. The reality is his skin and body parts could make some destitute person rich, so he is mercilessly hunted all because he has albinism. Born with little or no protective pigment in their skin, hair and eyes, compromising their vision, one begins to realize the realities of their already devastating environment. It is estimated there are approximately 170,000 albinos living in Tanzania. Graphic coverage of these atrocities regularly makes the evening news as footage showing the body parts of Arithi, a 34 year old woman with albinism reinforces the fear that courses through all those afflicted. What no one could know was Arithi’s murder would change everyone lives. Culturally powerful witch doctors indoctrinate marginalized communities in the belief that albino body parts could bring them wealth and good fortune and thus was born a perverse cottage industry. Arithi death turned Josephat, a worker for an international NGO in Dar Es Salaam, into an activist as he traveled for two months across the country educating communities and breaking down stereotypes. Along the way political power brokers like Alfred Kapde of the Mwanza Albino Society, Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzania’s President and Mizengo Pinda, Tanzania’s Prime Minister preached the gospel of acceptance and equality for those living with albinism.
In the Shadow of the Sun depicts a David vs. Goliath story in which the diminutive David (Josephat) must confront a menacing Goliath (the powerful and controlling witch-doctor establishment). At its core, Director, Harry Freeland addresses universally entrenched themes about prejudice and ignorance towards those unlike us. We as a society are still hindered by these ingrained beliefs that looking different makes one somehow, lesser than. The most heart wrenching narrative of this documentary are the horrific stories told by children with albinism that cuts so deep. Vedastus Zangule a 14 year old boy desperate to get an education is especially difficult as we follow his uneasy journey towards a better life. These scenarios play out countless times as those suffering with albinism are bullied out of their schools and rejected by their communities. But, all is not lost as hundreds of children with albinism are being placed in special schools for safety.
Harry Freeland shows with unflinching clarity every look, every retort, every slight and every misnomer that relegates those affected to second class status at best. We bear witness to grieving mothers who are helpless to protect their frightened children; children who are powerless to defend or even understand the perils that their skin holds. These are the tragic tenants of Tanzanian life that Freeland uncovers with a deft touch.
Verdict: 4 out of 5: In the Shadow of the Sun is a six year odyssey into the far reaches of what it means to be different, what it means to live in fear and what it means to still have hope. Freeland takes us to a world where the scourge of poverty compounded by a faulty education system and no social safety net has established a foundation of deep-rooted superstition and long standing inequality in Tanzania. Segueing from the societal consequences of albinism into a political narrative that reaches the hallowed corridors of government, In the Shadow of the Sun is a powerful and thought provoking commentary on the acceptance of others and what it truly means to be free.
The fear of skin doesn’t always come in black.
Genre: Documentary, Biography, Drama Country: Tanzania, UK Language: Swahili (English Subtitles) Director: Harry Freeland Executive Producers: Brian Hill, Nick Fraser, Kate Townsend Original Music: Samuel Sim Canadian Festival Release Date: February 2014 Runtime: 88 minutes Cast: Josephat Torner, Vedastus Zangule, Kabula Advocacy Link: National Association of Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH): http://www.albinism.org/ T-Mak World: Toronto’s Site for Music, Movies and Culture www.tmakworld.com | Twitter | Facebook Get the T-Mak World Toolbar below to get all the info you need
