Sisters in Law

British filmmakers Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi employ the cinéma vérité style to excellent effect in this feel-good documentary about the legal proceedings of several citizens caught up in the judicial system in the town of Kumba in southwest Cameroon—a system dominated by two progressive-minded women, Court President Beatrice Ntuba and State Prosecutor Vera Ngassa. During much of Sisters in Law (shortlisted for this year's Best Documentary Oscar consideration), viewers watch as Madame Ngassa, sitting at her desk in her small chaotic office, questions witnesses and victims with a clear-eyed sense of duty, doling out well-deserved tongue-lashings to dimwitted husbands and neglectful family members. In one case, a Muslim woman afraid of her husband's brutal beatings and reluctant to take him back despite his family's considerable efforts on his behalf, is persuaded by Ngassa to fight for her rights and personal safety through legal measures (in a segment near the end of the film, Ngassa lectures a group of college students on the importance of the case, which resulted in the first abuse-related conviction in 17 years). In another, a 10-year-old rape victim is brought in by her father, eventually appearing before the court along with her rapist, whom Ntuba swiftly sentences to nine years of jail with hard labor. In a third, six-year-old Grace is brought to Ngassa after escaping to a local church following severe beatings by her aunt, who is herself rounded up and subjected to Ngassa's no-nonsense interrogation. Additional footage details the trials and follow-up meetings with victims and family members, but it's the matter-of-fact chronicle of visits to Ngassa, and the unexpected juxtaposition of woman as victim with women as judge and counsel, that makes this such a winning film—a cross between Judge Judy and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. This upbeat winner of the Prix Art et Essai at the Cannes Film Festival is a fine testament to how the law can be used to change patterns of social injustice. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (A. Cantú)