‘Mami Wata’ (2023) Review: The Shades of a Mythical Goddess
Like a painting on a black canvas, C.J. “Fiery” Obasi’s Mami Wata uses striking black and white shadows with mesmerising imagery to evoke emotional storytelling. Set in the small seaside village Iyi, this film explores the mythical spirit called Mami Water or Mother Nature, who honours the sacred waters and brings good fortune to people. The ocean is the most powerful natural element. It loudly expresses discontentment with the darkness entrenched in the village.
Mami Wata mainly focuses on three women. Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) is a priestess who reigned as the bridge between the water spirit, Mami Wata, and the village people for decades. She has two daughters, Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and her adopted daughter, Prisca (Evelyne Ily Juhen), who enjoy comfort and a high status because of their mother’s devotion to Mami Wata. The people in the village begin to doubt Mama Efe when she can’t save a little boy who falls ill and dies. A mysterious man, Jasper (Emeka Amakeze), washes onto the shore of Iyi, declares complete control of the village and begins to threaten the livelihood of Mama Efe, Zinwe and Prisca.
Obasi manages to dive into the intergenerational trauma and the legacy of Mami Efe’s daughters. Throughout the movie, Mama Efe contemplates her next successor. There’s tension between Zinwe and Prisca, who have contrasting views of Mami Wata’s spiritual powers that dominate the people’s faith and beliefs. There are troubled waters in the small village of Iyi. Obasi paints the picture of an intergenerational conflict as a political conflict that expresses the corrupt powers of war and violence. This is rendered through Jasper’s arrival and his desire to change the landscape of Iyi and the deity.
Mami Wata is a perfect example of exceptional visual storytelling. There’s a patchiness to its execution, but Obasi delivers it with a monotonous visual feast that is hard to look away. Under the merciless sky and near the crashing waves of Iyi, Mami Wata is a fearless mythical fable of resistance and rediscovering faith. It’s impossible not to be immersed in this film’s spectacular visual imagery and incredible storytelling.
Strike Funds: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1weorhmG1H7cszY3rGHCpNYsgleegkuOSH7rD47JzSAQ/edit
Solidarity with striking film and television workers: https://freelancesolidarity.org/wga-sag-strike-solidarity/
Here are some reading materials to learn about the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine:
Decolonise Palestine: https://decolonizepalestine.com/
Verso Books: https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/news/solidarity-with-palestine-free-resources-and-further-reading
Haymarket Books: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/subjects/33-palestine
The Free Palestine Library: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FZudPOQZAnYH1iQXNBkqF57GR0lcQMro
More Palestine reading materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14Ln_qYhc7sIs9Ukz5usqAELuKOQ6yUe9
