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Director/Producer: Awa Traoré
In Mali, as in many countries in Africa, the ancestral custom of informal or "traditional" adoption was used to positively consolidate the ties within the family. Children would be sent away from home to live with relatives or friends who took on responsibility for their upbringing, and who considered it an honor. Nowadays, mentalities are changing and such beliefs are being lost. The effects of poverty mean that a child may be given away simply because the parents can't afford to raise them. As a result, adoption can become a nightmare for the child, as was the case for the film's director for about ten years of her life. In this film, Awa Traoré sheds light on what has remained unspoken for too long—the experience of a waliden who suffered mistreatments after being traditionally adopted.
Awa Traoré is a young and talented Malian documentary filmmaker. Waliden, Children of Others is her first film. From her personal experience, she questioned the practice of traditional adoption of children in her country, Mali.
Karoninka
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©2010 United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) |
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