Like Israelites in Egypt
Filmmaker: Irine Lum Asanji
Year of production: 2004
Location: Ekkona Town, Cameroon
Duration: 35 minutes.
Sound: mono
Language:
English Subtitles
This film attempts to show the encounter between the Ngie migrant population from the North West Province and the Bakweri indigenous group of the South West Province of Cameroon living in Ekona Town.
The relationship is punctuated by the Cam No Go stigma that emerged in the 1990s. Cam No Go is a politically conceived and extremely derogatory appellation that describes non-native inhabitants of the South West as permanent parasites to the commonwealth of the province. It insinuates that the migrants have “Come” with “No” intention to “Go” back to their native homes.
Eight years after her experience with the stigma, Irine Asanji (the film maker) uses her anthropological background to investigate more on the situation of over 5000 Ngie migrants who had probably experienced the stigma of Cam No Go more seriously.
Irine Asanji follows the lives of some personalities from both the Ngie and Bakweri communities. Through participant observation, conversations and interviews, things turn out to be more than what she had expected.
Has national politics caused too many problems for the Ekona people? Do the Bakweri expect Ngie migrants to leave their land? Who and why are some people Like Israelites in Egypt? These are some of the puzzles addressed in this film.
Copyright: 2004 Visual Cultural Studies, University of Tromsø
Thesis
Not available.
