Wives
Filmmaker: Lisbet Holtedahl
Year of production: 2018
Location: Cameroon
Duration: 85 minutes.
Sound: mono
Language: Fulfulde
Subtitles: English, French
Alhajji Ibrahim is an Islamic scholar. For 46 years, he served as judge at the Sultanate of Ngaoundéré in Northern Cameroon. The film follows Alhajji during the last years of his life, focusing on the relationships in a polygamous family, seen from the perspective of the wives and their husband. Shot in the years 1997-2001 and edited over 15 years later, the film presents a way of life that is typical of the societies and cultures of Borno and Adamaoua provinces (Nigeria and Cameroon) where people living far away from the capital, struggle to adapt to modern education, strong marginalization and increasing poverty. In recent years, the region has been under constant threat of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Copyright: 2018 Lisbet Holtedahl, University of Tromsø
