Sisters In Law (tbc)
- Run time: 1 hour 44 mins
- Genre: Documentary
- Release date: 1st January 2005
- Starring: Vera Ngassa, Beatrice Ntuba
- Directed by: Florence Ayisi, Kim Longinotto
Plot Synopsis
The best documentaries are often very simple. It’s hard to go wrong with a powerful story and a few strong characters, and they don’t come much stronger than Vera Ngassa, the very definition of the word indomitable. If parachuted into the Middle East, she would no doubt have everything sorted out by tea-time.
As state prosecutor in a small Cameroonian town she runs her office with wit, warmth and common sense. "Your problem is you are not denying anything," she tells one defendant. Coupled to this directness is a manner so persuasive that she has secured the district’s first convictions for domestic violence in 17 years.
Specialising in prosecuting those who have mistreated women and children, Ngassa takes on some truly terrible cases. One six-year-old girl, Manka, was found wandering in the street after her aunt had bound her, covered her in pepper and beaten her with a cane and coat hanger. "I only did it to make her a good girl," says the aunt.