Nigerian film “Mami Wata”: “Mami Wata” in the cinema: Attack on the goddess of the sea

The spray glows white in the dark night. The roaring sound of the sea, otherwise: silence. A young woman sits on the beach lost in thought and braids her hair. “Zinwe,” comes a voice. The young woman raises her head. Who is calling her name? Is it the sea? She stands up and takes slow steps towards the crashing waves.

Change of scene. Zinwe (Uzomaka Aniunoh) sits in a room with several women. In the middle, Mama Efe (Rita Edochie), Zinwe’s mother, sits enthroned in a patterned robe and a large, shell-embroidered bonnet. Another woman sits on the carpet in front of her and reports about the loss of a child. She seeks advice from Mama Efe. She acts as a mediator between the people living in the village and the sea goddess Mami Wata, after whom the third feature film by Nigerian director C. J. Obasi is named.

In the credits the film is described as “West African folklore”. Reviews also refer to it as a “fantasy thriller”. In his parable “Mami Wata,” C. J. Obasi plays with features of different genres and refers to various elements of West African mythology – such as the belief in the powerful sea goddess. The term “Mami Wata” comes from Pidgin English and means “mother of water”.

The film is set in the small, isolated village of Iyi, where the people worship Mami Wata and confide in Mami Efe, who has the power to communicate with the goddess. But friction appears right from the start. On the one hand, within the family: Zinwe accuses her mother because she did not help the mother of the dead child. As soon as she becomes an intermediary with Mami Wata herself, Zinwe announces that she will do everything differently.

Mama Efe is also confronted with criticism in the village community because doubts are raised about her abilities. When she fails to help a sick boy, some residents see this as evidence of suspicions they have had for a long time. “This woman you call Mama Efe has no strength,” a man shouts after the child’s death. Other villages have developed further. They had electricity, schools, running water and hospitals. And what about Iyi? The villager gives the impression that it is a backward village that is loyal to dubious powers.

The boy’s death leads Mama Efe’s second daughter Prisca (Evelyne Ily) to invite a doctor to the village who brings vaccines. This will protect children from illness, he says. But Mami Wata is against it and sends him away. “There is no virus in my village,” she says, emphasizing that the community is protected. “You men of Western science. What do you know beyond your books?” Prisca sees it differently. “This man is a doctor who wants to save our children.”

»Mami Wata« tells of rapprochements, but also of the collision of different worlds of ideas and beliefs – as well as the questions, conflicts and struggles that this brings with it. Myth and reality intertwine and meet in conflictual constellations. The slowly told, visually stunning film conveys a very unique mood and aesthetic. Artfully composed black and white images initially seem like a fairytale-like, at times eerie story from times gone by. Director C. J. Obasi works sparingly with music and natural sounds, but uses them all the more effectively. Visually and acoustically, this film is worth watching on the big screen in the cinema.

Opulent costumes with patterned fabrics, complicated hairstyles and white, fine face paint characterize the magnificent culture of the village, which is cultivated with a lot of effort. But the impression of a beautiful, ideal world is broken again and again when artifacts of the modern world come into play, be they motorcycles, clothing or guns. Because as tender and poetic as “Mami Wata” is at times, it is also intense and brutal.

One day a strange man appears in the village, washed up by the sea. Prisca saves Jasper (Emeka Amakeze) and takes care of him. But just as suddenly and unexpectedly, he finds himself at the head of a movement that rebels against the traditional structures in the village and questions the existence of Mami Wata. The rebels eventually kill Mama Efe, the representative of the water goddess. The new rulers promise electricity, schools, a better life – and don’t deliver on any of it.

As proof that Mami Wata does not exist, the rebels want to drown Zinwe in the sea. Let the goddess come to her aid. The person who actually fishes her out of the water is her sister Prisca. From now on it is the two of them who stand up for the traditions and fight for the village community. “Mami Wata” is also a film about female authority and two sisters who find their own way in a changing world.

Director C. J. Obasi, who goes by the nickname “Fiery,” comes from the small town of Owerri in southeastern Nigeria. Growing up, he watched horror films, read Stephen King novels, and drew comics based on his favorite superhero films and stories. He later studied computer science before beginning his career as a filmmaker. His three-part feature film Juju Stories (2021), which sets urban narratives and mythical stories in contemporary Lagos, celebrated its premiere at the Locarno Film Festival and won the special Boccalino d’oro prize for the best film, which Swiss film critics award annually.

Obasi’s film “Mami Wata” premiered almost a year ago at the Sundance Festival in the USA and won the Special Jury Award Cinematography there. Since then, the film has been shown at various festivals – including the Munich Film Festival – and is currently showing in German cinemas.

“Mami Wata”, Nigeria 2023. Directed and written by C. J. “Fiery” Obasi. Starring: Rita Edochie, Uzomaka Aniunoh, Evelyne Ily. 107 min. Now in cinemas.