Film: You Are Our Daughter Now

38min

Roora, the traditional Zimbabwean wedding custom is the negotiation and payment of the conventionally termed “bride price”. Because of the patri- archal nature of the ceremony the bride is left with no knowl- edge about what is happening in her own wedding ceremony. ‘You are our Daughter now’ as an ethnographic film explores a female peerspective on roora.

What would be your roora?

The Zimbabwean traditional marriage custom roora is the negotiation of the ‘bride price’. Due to its patriarchal nature, the practice is dominated by the male gaze objectifying the bride discussing the amount of her roora in light of her virginity, social status, domestic skills etc. Further, during the ceremony women are passive spectators rather than actors. Therefore, the present study focuses on subverting the male gaze in the practice through the ethnographic film You are our Daughter now and thus empowers women by giving them a voice. The subversion of the male gaze is then researched through film analysis using these two feminist film theories: male gaze by Laura Mulvey and oppositional gaze by bell hooks. Through semi-structured interviews between women from two generations exchanging knowledge and lived experience about roora and observational cinema documenting a roora ceremony, the film portrays the female gaze on roora. The study reveals a knowledge gap between women and men when it comes to the marriage practice and that women wish for a ceremony that is more inclusive of them. It further discovers the importance of the relationship between mother- and daughter-in- law not least to close this knowledge gap in order to be more self-determined when it comes to their own wedding custom. The film works not only as an informant but as a documentary and as a piece of education. Through critical viewing and analysis (young) Zimbabwean women gain the power of knowledge to reinvent roora for future generations towards a practice that is more inclusive.

Position

Research, Directing, Camera, Sound, Production, Postproduction

Short Info

Documentary film, 38 minutes, production year 2022

Part of my master thesis of the study program Visual and Media Anthropology at the HMKW | Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation und Wirtschaft (University for Media, Communication and Business)

Access to full film and text on personal demand