Interview by Jasmina Sopova, UNESCO Courier journalist.
In Ethiopia a puppet theatre is used as part of an Aids prevention campaign.
In African countries where there aren’t any vending machines for contraceptives, people—especially young people — don’t dare to buy them
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HIV/Aids in Burkina Faso Out of a population of 11 million, 370,000
live with HIV/Aids. Among adults in the 15-49 age group, 7.17% are HIV-infected,
along with 22,000 children under the age of 15. The epidemic has so far claimed a
total of 250,000 lives. Source: UNAIDS, 1998. |
Fighting
prejudice with laughter, film director Fanta Regina Nacro gets a strong message across
After she
heard from a cousin in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) about the dangers of catching Aids,
one of Konaté’s two wives asked him to wear a condom. The dismayed Konaté
told his friends about the request and they made fun of him. His pride was so wounded
that he became impotent and even his mistress couldn’t solve the problem.
Eventually the village witch-doctor intervened and told Konaté his only hope
was to say a prayer at the foot of the tree on which the “thing” (the condom) supposedly
grew. So Konaté went off to look for the tree.
The film Konaté’s Thing, which came out this year, tackles Aids prevention
in a light-hearted way, by laughing at male sexual pride and odd customs. Fanta Regina
Nacro, the film’s 36-year-old Burkinabé director, explains her approach:
Why did you use humour to handle such a distressing topic?
Being alarmist about Aids wouldn’t have helped much. People run away from painful
images. But we all like recalling funny episodes.
As an African woman, I’m particularly concerned about Aids. I wanted to use the wonderful
means of communication I had—film—to help prevent the disease. I know how my people
think and it wouldn’t have worked to say to them in a moving or peremptory way “Wear
a condom!” The whole weight of tradition would have come down on me. So I took another
tack. Through laughter, you can fight prejudice more easily.
You raise a number of questions yet you don’t deal directly with young people
even though they have been hit the hardest by the epidemic.
I’m the first to admit this. But try and tell that to the National Centre for Aids
Prevention. I was told that it would be “dragging them down into debauchery.” They
were so insistent that I gave up. The issue reeks of hypocrisy. Health officials,
community organizations, everyone involved in the fight against Aids, they all avoid
talking about and to young people. Fortunately children are present during awareness
campaigns in the villages and no one chases them away. So they learn how to use condoms,
just as they can if they see my film.
We don’t have the right to leave children in the dark about Aids. Right now, I’m
trying to get the film more widely distributed so most young people in Burkina Faso
can see it. It’s been shown on national television but not everyone’s got a TV set.
A travelling cinema is in the works, along with public presentations and discussions
to be held in provincial towns and villages.
How do you gauge your success?
In African countries, where there aren’t any vending machines for contraceptives,
people—especially young people—don’t dare to go and buy them. We decided, as part
of a promotion campaign, to either hand out a free box of contraceptives or the equivalent
of one dollar. When a farm-worker was handed a box of condoms, he was visibly delighted.
When he was given money, he was grateful but nothing more. With a dollar, he could
buy five boxes but he wouldn’t dare do so.
Since the film has been shown in Burkina Faso, kids have been asking in the market
simply for “Konaté’s thing” and that’s what they get. This achievement is
much more important to me than any prize the film has won.
