A videotape by Monique Mbeka Phoba
2000
45 minutes
Germany/Benin

Thomas 110
Saturday April 6
In "The Girls Project: Growing Up Globally" screenings starting at
9:30 A.M.
"Anna from Benin" is an extraordinary portrait of an extraordinary 17th year old. Anna is one of 31 children that her father has had with his 5 wives. As the star of her family’s orchestra, the Tek Stars, she went to study in France on scholarship – a rare event in Central Africa, where most girls don’t get the opportunity to get an education. As a result the entire countries hopes are pinned on her success. This beautiful documentary focuses on Anna’s struggles as an independent teenager with a domineering father in Central Africa and as an African teenager in France without the protection of her siblings and her five mothers. Congolese filmmaker, Monique Phoba’s portrait allows us a rare view of the lives of girls in Africa at the beginning of a new century.

• Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur
• As part of WMM's Girls Around the World omnibus, screened at many festivals
• Review, in French
• Phoba at Festival International du Film d'Amiens Un rêve d'indépendance