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Dowry of Life (2013)

★★ — Dowry of Life (2013)

Dowry of Life is a micro-budget short film produced through Juba Youth and the German outfit Weltfilm, running just nine minutes and made with essentially no formal production budget. Director Simon Bingo, who also takes a lead acting role, was working in the context of South Sudan's earliest years as an independent nation (the country formally separated from Sudan in 2011, making indigenous film production there almost entirely nascent at this point). The film tackles the practice of bride price, a subject of ongoing social debate across parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and sits within a small but growing tradition of community-made advocacy shorts aimed at drawing attention to customary practices that disproportionately affect women.

A-Z World Movie Tour South Sudan https://youtu.be/z7erNuc-f-0?si=BQZzpSObyx5fUDY3 This is a short film from South Sudan to highlight the struggles that some women face at the hands of traditions involving trading dowries for wives. It's poorly acted, extremely melodramatic, and escalates very quickly. It does it's job though to highlight how negative these practices can be and it's entire goal is to raise awareness. I think a 2* is fair given the context.

Rating: ★★ | Year: 2013 | Watched: 2025-09-06

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