Fantasia Fest 2023 - Film Review

A small West African community becomes emersed in a power struggle between entrenched folklore and social progression in Mami Wata. This stunningly shot and extraordinarily intimate fantasy thriller about a mermaid water deity exudes depth and meaning while celebrating African feminism in a way rarely seen on cinema screens.

Headstrong traditionalist Mama Efe is the conduit and intermediary for the sea goddess Mami Wata in the fictional coastal village of Iyi. Her two daughters Zinwe and Prisca are cynical in varying degrees toward her stoical enforcement of folklore worship in the face of modernity and the benefits it would bring to their community.

As part of her role, Mama Efe must accept a hefty portion of the villager’s produce and money to appease and reward Mami Wata for her protection. However, it is not just her own family that questions Mama Efe’s archaic dogma and indeed her usefulness. Seduced by the tap water, electricity, roads, schools, and hospitals of their more progressive neighbours many of the villagers grow restless and resentful of the bounty she collects from them.

Things worsen when she is unable to prevent a child’s death and her matriarchal authority is teetering on the brink of destruction. Yet it is the arrival of Jacob, a charismatic deserter from a rebel faction washed up on the beach, that nudges the tipping point. So begins a dangerous confrontation pitting the veneration of ancient belief systems against the modern idolatry of ruthless capitalism, politicised corruption, divisive rule, and toxic masculinity.

Maverick director CJ “Fiery” Obasi got the idea for Mami Wata from a transcendental black-and-white vision he felt compelled to recreate on film. As such, it is an immensely personal story that taps into the love and respect he holds for his own two late sisters. Originally set to be a relatively standard revenge thriller it is filled with so much earnest pride and ethereal wonder it eclipses classification or for that matter, time frame.

The first decision Obasi made was to infuse Mami Wata with raw empowerment from every single creative angle. Constantly holding the filmmaking process to to invert the screen stereotypes of West Africans. The very last thing he wanted to do was to generate an unhealthy hybrid of a telethon guilt piece and Robert Egger’s The Lighthouse. The result is a fascinating, multi-layered deconstruction of faith and the impetus for progression that thrums with cultural richness and stark gorgeousness.

Lílis Soares‘ astonishingly crisp black-and-white cinematography enhances the aesthetic elegance of black skin while seashell braided hair and glittering body art shimmer in the moon and campfire light. This gives the film’s vibrant subjects an otherworldly quality that works in tandem with clever camera placement to depict them in a manner more consistent with superheroes.

Obasi‘s affectionate world-building is as magnanimous as it is minimalistic. Structured in the manner of a stageplay the action unfolds behind a steady flow of sparse silent era-type title cards. This artistically earthy approach allows the illustrations of morality and thematic timebombs to breathe and explode respectively. Obasi showcases his acknowledgement of Kurosawa, Scorsese, Jodorowsky, and Lynch with grace and humility but it is the work of Von Trier, specifically Dogville, that springs to mind most readily in of depth and pragmatic clarity.

Just like Dogville, the village of Lyi is a microcosm of the human condition where an uninvited interloper deceives to ravage a small community. However, Mami Wata is more concerned with women as saviours and protectors than men as oppressors and manipulators. Obasi’s film is also more universal in of keynote topics that push further than bitterness and arrogance.

Crammed into the space between the constantly crashing waves and the encroaching march of time are reflections on indoctrinated tribalism, vaccination paranoia, the unwelcome ironies of rebellion, sibling rivalry, gun control, and the divisive nature of capitalism. All of these, and more, are delivered with the same unfussy lucidity as the pristine cinematography.

In legend, Mami Wata is a patron of more than the sea and mermaids. She also holds the patronage of the moon, luck, money, and music, all of which play some part in the narrative. Even her predilection for fertilising barren women is touched upon. As such, when the beautiful dabs of colour finally splash onto the screen the film has earned that cinematic flourish and then some.

An immersive story that could have unfolded before our eyes in the past or hereafter, just as easily as the present, Mami Wata is a hypnotic love letter to African mythos that doubles as a warning sign to unchecked futurism. A poignant fever daydream that strives to eviscerate pity through power and replace remote commiserations with tangible empathy.