Africa: Sisters in Law

Prize-winning film-maker Kim Longinotto took it as a challenge when the compere at last year's OneWorld Broadcasting Trust's Media awards ceremony said he hoped that the 2005 event would include films with positive images of Africa. "It got me thinking," recalls Longinotto. "Every film on Africa seemed to be about AIDS or refugees or war. I took it as a direct challenge." The result, Sisters In Law, will be screened at the London Film Festival on 26 and 28 October. The film follows four court cases that are handled by state prosecutor Vera Ngassa. It is billed as "incredibly moving and at times disturbing… it spectacularly encompasses courage, hope, and the possibility of change." The cases are harrowing, involving domestic violence, rape and child beating. But Florence Ayisi, a Cameroonian whom Longinotto teamed up with emphasises that the film shows strong women standing up and fighting for justice, and a judiciary that employs 280 women judges and magistrates.