Connect The Stories

Women, Culture, Identity and social change

Connect the stories related to the musical portrait "Warrior Dancers".

Immmerse yourself in the themes addressed in this mini-series of short films.

Watch in any order as the films connect in dialogue with one another.

Xigubu

Channel info

Xigubu

Warrior Dancers

Can dance speak the unspoken? Can it embody knowledge? Can tradition change? Can girls be warriors? Filmed in collaboration with members of the socio-cultural association Blue Horizon, young girls talk about the power of the male warrior dance Xigubu and how they revindicate their rights to safe streets, safe schols and safe homes through its appropriation.

Horizonte Azul on Stage

Members of the Socio-Cultural Association Horizonte Azul (Blue Horizon) perform on stage during the Gala launch of the Speak My Sister film series. Thier appropriation of the male warrior dance Xigubu they bring to this stage in downtown Maputo is explored in the short film 'Warrior Dancer', one of the musical portraits in the Speak My Sister series.

Speak Mozambique - Illustrated Radio

Follow the films to Niassa in this illustrated radio broadcast of the popular weekly Radio Mozambique discussion show ‘Speak Mozambique’. Recorded during the National Festival of Culture, hosts Sergio Guissamulo and Nélia Nicua guide this round table discussion with four women involved in culture in Mozambique; Art Curator, Otília Akino, Music Pedagog, Melita Matsinhe, Fashion Designer Isas Baga and researcher, Speak My Sister producer and author of this website Karen Boswall. The discussion looks at the role of women in the arts and society through the lens of the festival theme Culture Promoting Women, Identity and Sustainable Development

About The Films

Girls in Mozambique's capital Maputo appropriate a male war dance and embody a warrior spirit in their lives, as they navigate the violence of many of the men they encounter in their schools, their streets and their homes. This film, was directed by the author of this web documentary, Karen Boswall and co-created in collaboration with the protagonists, the warrior dancers of the cultural association Horizonte Azul (Blue Horizon). In Speak Mozambique, she joins three other women active in the promotion of art and culture in Mozambique for a round table radio discussion on the themes of the National Festival of Culture, 'Culture promoting women, identity and sustainable development'. This discussion is illustrated with material filmed by the Speak My Sister mobile cinema unit as they screened the series during the festival

About The Film-Makers

Karen Boswall produced the film series Speak My Sister and curated this web documentary. An experienced filmmaker herself, she was encouraged to make Warrior Dancers by the researcher Rosalina Nhachote, an active member of the cultural association and lecturer in cinema at ISArC (The higher Institute of Art and Culture). The round table discussion about the themes of the festival adresses many of the themes of her own research and is included here translated into English and illustrated with material also shot by members of the ISArC mobile cinema unit.