''Mama Colonel'' (french: Maman Colonelle) is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

from

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, directed by Dieudo Hamadi. The film focuses on the work of Colonel Honorine Munyole who, fights against

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

and

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

. In the film Colonel Honorine Munyole who first works in the

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pr ...

police force in the Child protection and Anti-Sexual Violence unit, which is widely known for its good reputation. She is then transferred to Kisangani, where a few days upon her arrival, multiple victims of

Sexual Violence Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...

paid her a visit. These victims where the result of the 6-day war (Six-day War) between

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

n and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n troops. She is determined to help the victims achieve justice they deserve.

Synopsis

Colonel Honorine Munyole is a widow and mother of seven children, gets transferred from

Kisangani Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville or Stanleystad) is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,312,000 in 2021, and the larg ...

. She is in charge, head of the special unit for protection of women and children. She has challenges communicating with some of the officers in her unit do not speak the local language Swahili they only speak only

Lingala Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree in ...

. She is yet to gain trust and confidence of the citizens to open up about the problems they face every day. Eventually

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

s and

rape victim Rape is a traumatic experience that affects the victim (also known as 'survivor') in a physical, psychological, and sociological way. Even though the effects and aftermath of rape differentiate among victims, individuals tend to suffer from simil ...

s of almost 20 years war, feel there is someone to listen to them and rely on. Its hard to obtain justice for these Victims. The police unit is not capable to help these victims financially, thus they depend on donations from the community to help widows, rape victims, and children. Colonel Honorine Munyole uses

public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads (including the pavement), public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to ...

s, such as the

market place A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...

to encourage the citizens to build solidarity among themselves, she teaches them about their rights in relations to sexual violence and the responsibilities parents have over their children. She is also seen providing food and shelter to some widows and orphans.

Production

The documentary is produced by Dieudo Hamadi. Language used is

, Swahili and French, it has

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Subtitles Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 7133098 2017 films 2017 documentary films Democratic Republic of the Congo documentary films American documentary films French documentary films Dutch documentary films 2010s American films 2010s French films