Today, Women Make Movies‘ feature, Sarabah, is being broadcasted on Link TV.
To complement this broadcast, we bring you an exclusive interview with the Director.
Telegraph21: What inspired you to make Sarabah?
Maria Luisa: Meeting Fatou (aka Sister Fa) was the biggest inspiration.  Anyone who meets her can attest.  We met her at the UN Day Concert (where she performed with Niles Rodgers) in 2009, and the next day we talked about doing a short piece on her for a series we were producing at Link TV.  But she started talking about all the causes she cares about, the things she is fighting for, her beliefs about grassroots change – and we were hooked.  Steven Lawrence (my co-producer and the Executive Producer on the film) was there with her that day, and in the car afterwards we were in complete agreement that we had to do something more with her story.  So, we decided to kick into high gear.  Steven started raising money to finance it more fully, and I went to Berlin to start filming her; the money Steven raised allowed me to go to Senegal with a micro-budget to join her on tour.  It all happened very quickly.

Telegraph21: What do you want viewers to take away from the film?
Maria Luisa: The most important thing to take away is that an individual can make a difference, and that activism can take many forms.  Sister Fa uses her talent and her popular appeal as a vehicle to get an important message across; it takes a lot of courage to do that, to risk offending people when you depend on people buying your music.  It’s also really important for people to perceive that this movie is about an African making a difference in Africa.  These are the kinds of stories Americans don’t usually get to see because our media gives preference to activism stories about celebrities like Bono and George Clooney.  There are plenty of people like Sister Fa who need our attention and support.  
Telegraph21: How did you first connect with the Sister Fa?
Maria Luisa: Steven, Gloria Bremer (my co-director) and I were all working on a series for Link TV called “Rappers, Divas and Virtuosos,” featuring dynamic musicians from Muslim cultures.  We wanted to do the last piece on Sister Fa, so we made a point to connect with her at the 2009 UN Day Concer, where Steven had arranged for her to perform.

Telegraph21: What can be learned from her experience?
Maria Luisa: I think what can be learned is that it’s worth taking the risks.  She takes a lot of risks in this film.  She takes time away from building her musical career in Germany.  She takes her whole family and band to Senegal.  There is no major funding, and that’s also a very deliberate choice, but obviously one that augments the challenges.  She is talking about something that a lot of people would still rather not talk about.  She’s doing this in a village full of family and lifelong friends, and she doesn’t know what their reactions will be.  But she believes in her cause and she believes in her message.  That makes the choices very simple.
Telegraph21: What have been some of the successes of the “Education Without Excision” campaign she started? Has there been change in Senegal?
Maria Luisa: The change is coming slowly.  Sister Fa’s campaign is one part of it.  This is a huge cultural change that has been in process, and will continue to be in process.  The effect her campaign has had is to broaden the dialogue a little more, and that is a really important component.  No one’s going for an easy win here – easy wins usually end up being temporary.  This is something that takes patience work at the roots.  Tostan is a big factor too – their approach of respect-based communication and general education has proven very effective.  So, luckily there is steady change happening, and there’s every reason to believe the practice could be almost completely eradicated in Senegal by the middle of this decade.

Telegraph21: What is the potential of music as a tool for activism?
Maria Luisa: I can’t say enough about this. There are a lot of people who could articulate this much better.  Let me just say that music has enormous potential because you are communicating on many levels.  You are getting at people emotionally, and then you can also get strong message in there.  Look at what Ramy Essam has done for the Egyptian protests – I can’t get those songs out of my head, they’re so beautiful and they express such a longing and such a desire to commit to the cause.  You can see the difference music makes when Sister Fa gets on stage.  People’s ears are more open.  They are woken up on many levels.  So, the dialogue that comes after is more charged.  Music electrifies.

Telegraph21: Your favorite thing about Senegal?
Maria Luisa: That’s a nice question.  The music is one sure thing to absolutely love.  But I’d have to say the thing that really struck me is the pace of life and the quality of human interaction.  Her band members are all German, and we talked about this a lot.  People really take time with each other, if they stop to say hello they stay a while, there’s no rushing, there are no deadlines.  The next appointment can wait.  People care about the conversations they’re having in the moment.  It all creates a completely different state of being for the time that you’re there; you don’t notice the change at first, but after a few days you notice that your whole perception is totally changed.  I’d like to go back soon and enjoy it when I’m not trying to get a movie made!
WOMEN MAKE MOVIES:
Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, Women Make Movies continues to achieve international recognition through its distribution and Production Assistance programs, with films acknowledged by the Academy Awards, Emmy Awards and Peabody Awards, as well as at Cannes and the Sundance Film Festival. In 2012, WMM will be screening films around the world at 40 events, reaching over 40,000 women and young girls.

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