The Hamar Trilogy
The Hamar people, who live in a remote area of south-western Ethiopia, believe that in the beginning two people were created - one of them smiled and became a woman, the other kept its mouth shut and became a man.
This documentary entitled
The Women Who Smile is the first of three films made by Joanna Head and anthropologist
Jean Lydall. Filmed over a period of five years they form an intimate portrait of the lives of Hamarwomen.
Originally shown in 1990, the first programme introduces the unmarried Duka. As with all
Hamar women, marriage is very important to her and she learns what the future holds from the harassed young mother Birinda and the older co-wife Hilanda.
All three women talk frankly and humorously about marital life, including familiar problems such as wife-beating, teenage pregnancy and growing old.
The final film of the trilogy, to be screened in two week's time, will bring Duka' story up to date. Editor Alan Bookbinder