Witchdoctors: A Day in the Other Africa

This new film from Brooklyn librarian/documentary filmmaker Boniface Wewe (see African Ceremonies: The Zulu Royal Reed Dance (VL Online-7/03) and Akwaaba…Welcome to Alphabetic Africa (VL-1/02) aims to show viewers the “other” Africa full of life and culture, as opposed to the stereotyped images of poverty and corruption often presented on the evening news. Filmed in West Central and South Africa, the film features footage of people working, a performance of a traditional song by an award-winning high school boys choir, and an interview with the Prime Minister to the King of the Zulu Nation. The bulk of the program, however, is comprised of a day spent with a community of sangomas, or traditional healers, who train together in an apprentice system under an experienced practitioner. The featured master sangoma, Ma Bhengu, is a groundbreaking subject who works in tandem with Western doctors to provide community healthcare. Ma Bhengu acknowledges that modern medicine is good for some ailments, but feels her muti is better for others, while also supporting condom usage and HIV testing. Many ritual greetings, dances, and procedures are shown while Wewe consults Ma Bhengu for help after some “personal problems,” and he pays the sangomas with shiny purses, shoes, and red cloth squares. The program emphasizes that the term “witchdoctor” is a misnomer (so it's odd to see it in the title), since black magic is not practiced (a confusing clip at the beginning features an African official vehemently declaring that anyone who uses human body parts in their traditional medicine practice “should be hung”). Unfortunately, while the subject matter is of cultural value, much of the program looks like raw travel video footage, with whole scenes completely unedited (all 14 members of the boys choir introduce themselves one at a time; Ma Bhengu goes through her entire stock of muti, explaining each; and the prime minister's interview is a nearly-five-minute monologue). In addition, the English subtitles for the sangoma segments seem to translate only a fraction of what is actually being said. Although the source material might be valuable for use in some academic collections with large African studies holdings, this is very optional elsewhere. Aud: C, P. (E. Gieschen)