MAMI WATA

C.J. ‘FIERY’ OBASI
Nigeria 2023 I OV with engl. subs I 107 min
In the presence of the director
Followed by DJ set with DJ Pam Bam (Foyer Arsenal)

TUE 14 NOV
19:30 ARSENAL
Opening

In Iyi, a small village on the Gulf of Guinea, the people live cut off from the outside world, deeply rooted in their own culture. They seek advice from Mama Efe, their mediator on earth. When doubts about Mama Efe’s powers arise after a series of mysterious incidents, her daughters Prisca and Zinwe fight for the community’s cohesion. Shot in black and white, this visually stirring futuristic allegory by Nigerian director C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi premiered at this year’s Sundance Festival. Lílis Soares was awarded the Special Jury Prize for her camerawork.
MAMI WATA is a narrative reinterpretation of a ghostly water deity from African mythology: Mami Wata Orisha – the water spirit’s name comes from Pidgin English – stands for “Mother of Water” and has even survived in the Caribbean on the other side of the Atlantic.

C.J. ‘FIERY’ OBASI grew up in the small town of Owerri in south-eastern Nigeria, first studied computer science and after graduation devoted himself entirely to film. His debut and zero-budget film OJUJU was awarded “Best Nigerian Film” at the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) 2014. His futuristic short film HELLO, RAIN, which was first screened at the 2018 International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, is part of the short film programme AFRIKAMERA SHORTS: UTOPIAS / DYSTOPIAS (17 Nov). Obasi is co-founder of the new wave cinema collective Surreal16, which has so far produced two anthology projects – VISIONS (2017) and JUJU STORIES (2021), which was presented as part of AFRIKAMERA 2021.