Mrs. Goundo is on a quest to spare her 2-year-old daughter, Djenebou, from the same severe act she endured as a child: genital cutting. Millions of young girls have taken part in this West African tradition, which dates back thousands of years. Fleeing drought and ethnic cleansing in her native Mali, Mrs. Goundo escapes to the United States and settles illegally in Philadelphia among a strong Malian expatriate community. There, with her husband, she raises a young son under the radar. However, when her daughter is born, Mrs. Goundo seeks asylum so that she might protect her daughter from having to return with her to Mali—where she is convinced the girl would be excised. Mrs. Goundo must persuade an immigration judge that her US-born daughter will suffer this procedure if she is deported. This remarkable film takes us to two cultures, 4,500 miles apart—to a Malian village where dozens of girls, who range in age from 6 months to 10 years, are prepared by their well- intentioned mothers, sisters, aunts and grandmothers for the excision, and to the streets and courtrooms of Philadelphia, where Mrs. Goundo transforms from a shy, unassuming wife and mother into an activist who lays bare her future and her daughter’s to the judicial system. Gracefully depicted and painstakingly observed, MRS. GOUNDO’S DAUGHTER uncovers the roots of excision and the ideas that have informed female Malian identity, and shows a woman who finds her voice while she challenges an age-old tradition so she can offer her daughter a better life.

Filmmaker Q&A

Introduce yourself:
BARBARA ATTIE AND JANET GOLDWATER have worked collaboratively since 1990 making widely acclaimed documentaries that have been broadcast nationally and internationally. In 2005, the two Philadelphia-based artists were awarded the prestigious Pew Fellowship in the Arts.

Their previous collaboration, ROSITA (2005), is the story of a 9-year-old Nicaraguan girl who was raped and made pregnant, and her parents' struggle with the medical establishment, the government and the church to end her pregnancy. Broadcast in Latin America on HBO/Cinemax as well as in Europe, Asia and the U.S., ROSITA was selected to screen at INPUT 2007 and has been shown at film festivals worldwide, including the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and Silverdocs.

Attie and Goldwater's 2002 ITVS production, MAGGIE GROWLS, a whimsical biography of Gray Panther founder Maggie Kuhn, was selected to be the premiere program on PBS' Independent Lens documentary series. Other Attie and Goldwater documentaries broadcast nationally on PBS include DARING TO RESIST: THREE WOMEN FACE THE HOLOCAUST (2000) and LANDOWSKA: UNCOMMON VISIONARY (1999). To learn more about Attie and Goldwater’s work, go to www.attiegoldwater.com.

Attie earned an MFA in Film from Temple University, and Goldwater earned an MFA in Photography and Design from Boston University. Attie and Goldwater are active in the local arts community as well as women’s rights organizations. Both were named to the National Leadership Council of Planned Parenthood. Attie chairs the board of the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women and sits on the board of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania. Goldwater, until recently chair of the Women’s Medical Fund, is on advisory boards for that group and the Reproductive Rights Project of the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

What inspired this film?   How did you find your subjects?
We have done a fair amount of work around women’s health and our most recent film, ROSITA, explores women’s health as an international human rights issue. In 2006 we were commissioned by a national nonprofit to make an educational piece about violence against women. As a result, Barbara took a crew to Mali to explore FGM/C (female genital mutilation/cutting) in that culture. She came back with, among other things, very compelling footage of a female circumcision ceremony. In ensuing conversations with friends and colleagues about the issue, we were genuinely surprised by how often people asked if the practice was still common—if it was an Islamic practice—if it doesn’t just happen in remote, isolated villages.

Armed with our new knowledge of the prevalence—and sometimes dangerous consequences—of FGM/C, we tried to envision a story that would educate U.S. audiences about the issue. We knew we didn’t want the film to be pigeon holed as a movie about an “exotic” practice in Africa. We wanted an angle that would be U.S.-based for a U.S. audience. Janet had heard of women in the U.S. citing fear of being subjected to FGM/C as a basis for seeking asylum. We asked our translator, Moussa (who becomes a character in the movie) if he knows of anyone. Through Moussa we met Goundo, who was seeking asylum based not on fear of harm to herself but to her daughter, Djenabou. The timing was perfect: her asylum application was filed but she had not yet been to court. Goundo agreed to work with us.

What were some of the biggest challenges/surprises?
First, it was an eye-opening privilege to enter into and learn about the West African immigrant community who are our neighbors in Philadelphia. Working outside one’s own culture—and language—poses obvious enormous challenges, and we had to constantly examine our own assumptions about what we were witnessing, both in Mali and in the West African community in Philadelphia.

Establishing close bonds was difficult. Goundo wanted to help us with the movie and we established a comfortable friendship, but one that was greatly hampered by language barriers. She was far too self-conscious to attempt English herself, but we speak a little French, so we managed. As mothers, we communicated a lot through our interest in her kids. Another challenge was that Goundo had no idea how long it takes to make a documentary—or how long her case would drag on. As the years passed and she became discouraged about her case, she sometimes wished the case—and the film crew—would disappear. As her prospects improved, so did her mood and our access.

Working in Mali was fascinating and frustrating. In the U.S., a documentary crew is often treated as a nuisance, but in Mali we were “visiting dignitaries.” This has its own downside; we sat through lengthy ceremonial meetings with officials all the way up to the First Lady. And for anyone who has not done production in a country where there is no set cost for anything, our advice is to bring a really strong negotiator or a lot of money. That being said, we became very enamored of many aspects of Malian culture and dedicated admirers of the individuals and groups working for women’s rights in that country.

Who are some of your favorite filmmakers?
Janet: Ang Lee, Pedro Almodovar.

Barbara: Werner Herzog, Akira Kurosawa.

What is your all time favorite documentary?
Janet: Sorry, neither of us can just do one! THE LAST WALTZ, THIN BLUE LINE, RIVERS AND TIDES.

Barbara: Too many to name them all, but I few I love are BATTLE OF CULLODEN, MAN ON WIRE, GRIZZLY MAN, THE SORROW AND THE PITY, MAN OF ARAN, THE STAIRCASE, BURDEN OF DREAMS.

What other projects are in the pipeline?
Nothing. Normally, we are well into fundraising for our next piece when we finish one, but MRS. GOUNDO’S DAUGHTER has been pretty all consuming, and our Associate Producer Shannon had a baby, and we miss her and her energy. But it doesn’t look like we get to take much of a break after promoting Goundo. We have a small commission lined up to make a piece about a jazz harpsichordist—and relatively lighthearted subject for us! We have also been asked to return to Mali in the fall to make some internationally-funded educational videos to promote various aspects of women’s health in that country so that should keep us busy for a while.

Why did you become a filmmaker?
Janet: Like most of my “choices” in life, I just tumbled into it. I was working as a documentary photographer—something I still do—and I was also involved in abortion rights work as a volunteer. One day at an event, I heard a story of a woman who had grown up motherless after her mother died of an abortion. It moved me, and I wanted someone to turn it into a movie. It didn’t occur to me that it would be me, but when I pitched the idea to Barbara Attie, she agreed to make it if I would work with her. That story became our first documentary, MOTHERLESS.

Barbara: I too was a still photographer before I went to film school 25 years ago. I’m curious, empathetic, like collaboration, and was looking for a way to tell stories with images that was not as solitary as still photography. As a documentary filmmaker I get to meet some of the most amazing people and ask them questions to my hearts' content under the guise of an interview.

What are some of your creative influences?
Janet: I love documentary photography, and non-fiction writing of all types. I also like to hike and think.

Barbara: Films –documentary, fiction, and experimental; art and photography; politics.

Did you go to film school?
Barbara: Yes, I got an MFA from Temple. I started when my three kids were really young and it took me ten years. I had made three broadcast documentaries by the time I took my comprehensive exams.

Janet: Nope, we only need one film school graduate.

What do you shoot on?
We’ve shot our last two films overseas and used DVCam PAL.

What has been the most unexpected thing to happen since taking the film on the festival circuit? N/A—Silverdocs is our premiere. From there we go straight to Human Rights Watch Int’l Film Festival in NYC.

Why did you want to screen your film at SILVERDOCS?
Silverdocs is a great festival for premiering. We know because in 2005 we premiered ROSITA (our last film) there. Besides the Silverdocs staff being great about logistics and publicity, we really got a lot out of the programs for producers that were offered. And of course, saw some fantastic films. D.C. is a great city to premiere a human rights-related doc; the audiences are sophisticated and critical, so we look forward to some challenging Q&A’s. And, importantly, Silverdocs attracts a critical mass of industry people. We hope to make some significant contacts for international distribution, and garner invitations to other festivals that will be a good fit for MRS. GOUNDO’S DAUGHTER.