The Cut

Directed by Beryl Magoko

Filmmaker Magoko heads to rural East Africa to understand the various traditional ceremonies and the efforts to eradicate them. She finds a community deeply divided not only along lines of age and culture. Enlightened elders lobby for the ban of the practice, others decry the loss of tradition. Among women, some seek to maintain the status quo while others flee to rescue camps. For the activists it is a clear case of basic women’s rights: circumcision is inextricably linked to early marriage and forbidden education. Who is telling the truth and what are the stakes?