Filmscreening 'I am not a Witch'

As part of the ASCL African Philosophy Month, on 25 November we will screen Rungano Nyoni's I am not a witch.

The programme of the event is as follows:

18.15 - 18.35 Introduction by Dr. Louise F. Müller, researcher in African and feminist philosophy and film  

18.35 - 20.20 Filmscreening I am Not a Witch

20.20 - 20.50 Aftertalk, Q & A & discussion by Dr. Louise F. Müller, moderated by Pius Mosima, Lecturer in Philosophy

Louise Müller will review the interlinkages between the book ‘Witchcraft, reincarnation and the Godhead’ by the late Nigerian philosopherSophie Bọ́sẹ̀dé Olúwọlé and the drama debut film ‘I am not a Witch’ by the Zambian-Welsh filmmaker Rungano Nyoni. The topics that will be discussed will be colonialism, racial hierarchy, tourism, and notions of Self and Other. 

Louise obtained a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in African Philosophy and Studies. She wrote extensively about Sophie Olúwole’s philosophical contributions in the academic books titled ‘Vrouwelijke Filosofen’ [Female Philosophers], ‘Women Philosophers from Non-Western Traditions’, and ‘Herstories in African Philosophy’. 

Abstract of I am not a witch

Following a banal incident in her local village, 8-year old Zambian girl Shula is accused of witchcraft. After a short trial she is found guilty, taken into state custody and exiled to a witch camp in the middle of a desert. At the camp she takes part in an initiation ceremony where she is shown the rules surrounding her new life as a witch. Like the other residents, Shula is tied to a ribbon which is attached to a coil that perches in a large tree. She is told that should she ever cut the ribbon, she'll be cursed and transformed into a goat. A satire about ignorance and misogyny.

See the trailer here.