Chile – long and narrow – over 4,300 km long but surprisingly slender with its widest point only about 350 km. Chile shares borders with Argentina, Bolivia and Peru and is in possession of the mystical Island Rapa Nui, along with the driest desert in the world, Atacama of million stars. Squeezed between the majestic Andes and the Pacific ocean, it is still not known where this land of a thousand landscapes got its name. It could have been either the Aimara word chili meaning ‘where the land ends’, the Mapuche word chilli meaning the same thing (‘where the land ends’) or a Mapuche word meaning sea gulls. Other theories say that it comes from a Quechua word chiri meaning ‘cold’, or another Quechua word tchili meaning ‘snow’ or ‘ the deepest point of the Earth’. There are other hypotheses as well regarding the name of this Southernmost land with a long history,with its ups and downs. 

But first, as always. Food. 

The friendly Paula in Fairfield 

There are two cafes in Sydney that offer Chilean food; la Paula, also called Paula Continental Cakes in far-western Sydney, Fairfield and Pochota in Mascot, close to the airport. One warm summer Saturday when five of us had an activity planned in Western Sydney, we decided to stop in Fairfield and check out the offerings of la Paula– which turned out to be a really good decision. The food is simple but delicious, and the service is wonderful. It truly is a gem. L (17) and A (11) get to practice their Spanish successfully and we go home with Chilean treats to share with some other Virtual Nomads. 

If you walk past it, it is easy to nearly miss it. From the outside, the shopfront looks like an eatery in an industrial area, but when you walk in, you are instantly welcomed by its friendly and bustling atmosphere with Chilean flags and products, and staff, some of whom only speak a few words of English. We learn that it is nearly an institution in the area. La Paula has been run by the same family in the location for over 30 years (first the parents, then the offspring, two sisters called Daniela and Claudia Casanova). The Casanova family first opened it in Liverpool but moved to Fairfield in the mid-80s. It is the oldest Chilean restaurant in Sydney and clearly has a very loyal clientele. The restaurant was not packed on a summer Saturday afternoon a few days before the New Year’s but all tables were definitely full. Spanish was spoken in most, if not in all tables. Most of the Spanish I hear is Chilean but here and there I hear people from other Latin American countries as well. The restaurant has several 5-star reviews, now including ours. Each dish is handmade following the original recipes of the Casanova family – and you can notice that in the taste – everything is fresh and delicious to the tastebuds. 

Empanadas are pastry filled with a range of yumminess and clearly a hit at la Paula. We ordered baked empanadas: meat ones (empanada de carne) alongside ones with spinach (empanada de espinaca). La Paula offers two types of empanadas; baked and fried. The empanadas are excellent. The meat empanada is the most traditional one (and the most ordered) and it comes with beef, onion, egg, olive and spices. Besides spinach, la empanada de espinaca is filled with cheese and egg. We would have liked to have had some fried empanadas with homemade cheese, but they were sold out for the day.

A(11) opts for a simple completo – a hot dog – there are several options for hot dogs/ completes (some of them come with mayonnaise, sauerkraut and palta – which is avocado) but A wants a plain one and is very happy with it. L (17) and NA (18) each go for a different sandwich with fries. NA chooses a Barros Luca – a steak sandwich or churrasco as Paula calls it – with sliced steak and melted cheese. L goes for a lomito palta mayo (a sliced pork meat sandwich – pictured) that has pork, mayonnaise and palta (avocado). Even if the food looks ordinary, there is something that makes it delicious, say the youngsters. 

An absolute win is Pupusas which is originally a dish from El Salvador and usually not common in Chile. Pupusas are cheese filled corn pancakes – in El Salvador they also sometimes include pork but this was not the case with la Paula, where pupusas came with cabbage salad and tomato sauce. We mix it with a delicious mixed salad with palta (avocado), tomato, onion and lettuce. The food is fresh and tastes homemade in the best possible way. 

The food is accompanied by Chilean soft drinks.

After lunch, we decide to buy some Chilean desserts to bring home and maybe share with a fellow Virtual Nomad EB and her family, as we will meet them for a Moonlight Cinema session (a feature of Sydney summer, movies under the stars in different locations, our favourite being Moonlight Cinema in Centennial park where you can bring your own picnic rug and food, drinks etc.). The La Paula display cabinet shows different desserts, many of them with manjar blanco – the Chilean version of dulce de leche (typical of Argentina), made of condensed milk and evaporated milk. It is very hard to choose but we end up taking a few different types of Chilenitos and Alfajores (two biscuits served as a sandwich with a generous amount of manjar blanco in the middle). 

Where the land ends 

Chile is a land of a thousand landscapes that run from the majestic Andes to the driest desert in the world, the mighty Atacama and within its 4000+ km land the country boasts many volcanoes, glaciers, mountains, valleys, islands and a long, long coastline. Home to the Indigenous Mapuche who successfully fought against the Inca Empire (1432-1533 – only the north part of modern Chile was conquered by the Inca) and the Spanish colonizers. As in other parts of the Americas, Spain conquered vast areas, including Chile. While the Spaniards were really into the Peruvian gold and other shiny things, Chile seemed to offer less monetary treasures so they were a bit less enthusiastic about it. The Mapuche were strong and resourceful, and resisted the Spanish conquest for more than three centuries. After independence, industrialisation resulted in the end of the Mapuche resistance in the 1880s. Currently around 10% of Chileans are of Mapuche origin.

Spanish Pedro de Valdivia founded the capital Santiago in 1541 – he was killed later by the Mapuche. In the Mapuche resistance history, a war warrior Lautaro is a famous figure. He was captured as a teenager and served as a personal servant to Pedro de Valdivia but later led many battles by the Mapuche side. He observed and learned from the Spanish military actions and therefore it was easy for him to know where their weaknesses were. He was killed by a Spanish ambush in 1557 while he was attempting to free the whole of Chile from Spanish rule. 

Chile gained independence from Spain in 1818. Chile started to industrialise, gaining economic and also some military power when winning the War of Pacific (1879-83) against Bolivia and Peru. There were some turbulences within, including short wars in 1829-30, 1851 and 1859. The 20^th century Chile saw economic and population growth, democratisation and urbanisation. Democratically elected left-wing Salvador Allende became president in 1970 but in 1973 a military coup seized power and placed Augusto Pinochet as the dictator for the next 17 years. During his regime, at least 3000 people were killed or forcefully disappeared, and nearly 30,000 were imprisoned and/or tortured. The 1988 referendum brought the regime to its end in 1990. In 2011 the Chilean government recognised additional victims and the total number of dead, tortured and imprisoned people were confirmed to be more than 40,000. The transition to democracy has resulted in fairly peaceful democratic and economic development. The current president is a former student leader Gabriel Boric who won the presidency in 2021 at the age of 35. 

Books from Chile: the literature giants Isabel, Roberto and José, and some others

You cannot talk about Chilean literature without mentioning Isabel Allende, Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda. When I was young, I was enchanted by Pablo’s poems (“La noche está estrellada, y tiritan, azules, los astros, a lo lejos”) but I fell out of love with him when I read his biography, in which he confesses to raping a young maid in Sri Lanka, and does not recognise his actions as a rape. He also abandoned his child and wife and did all sorts of things that makes him ever so yuckier. So no Pablo. Pablo boo.

Gabriela Mistral is a Nobel-winning poet and Isabel Allende has been called the world’s most read Spanish-writing author. I have read some of her books so I will not for this stop. Instead, I have invited my rising literature critic L (17) to read and review Isabel’s most famous book – and top rated on Goodreads – The House of the Spirits (1982). My own favourite book from Isabel is her most personal and raw book Paula (1995), written about the terminal illness and eventual death of her daughter Paula at the age of 29. 

L’s review: (I am now 18! This took me a while… I’ll explain why!)

Wow. What a tremendous achievement this book is, at 500 pages of beautiful prose in very small print. Before I begin my ranting and raving, I definitely acknowledge both that I read a translation, and that this book holds so much power. I can certainly see how Allende’s words impact and inspire readers for life, and can guarantee I will think about this narrative for years to come. If someone told me this was their favourite book, however, I would perhaps question that due to my own experience: one of pure rage!!!!

Okay. So, this book supposedly follows, essentially, 4 generations of Chilean women, culminating in the horrors of the 1973 coup and proceeding dictatorship. The story holds and is structured around many facets of Allende’s deeply familial experiences, with the on-page bravery of her uncle, and her understanding and relationship with the magical realism of connections to the spiritual universe. The reason I found this book as such a masterpiece was due to the constructive elements, namely the wonder of her words, which (mostly) terrifically hit the nail on the head in dissecting the humanity within.

BUT!!

There were many, many parts of it that I despised. Sorry, that’s a lie. One particular story feature boiled my blood until it almost evaporated beneath my skin. ESTEBAN TRUEBA!!!!! What a horrible man who did not get what he deserved (I know that is partially the point of the story, especially with the symbolic and peaceful conclusion). It seemed very uneven at times! He would rape many underage women, physically, emotionally, financially, sexually and psychologically abuse everyone he met (even a corpse, spoilers!) without exception, and have moments of clarity where he appeared to be forgiven by the very people he quite literally knocked the teeth out of, even after their death! Why would Clara marry someone who would be so cruel when she was a brilliant clairvoyant? Why would any of his relatives be as forgiving as they were? I had to stop reading at times (including on my birthday) because this aspect enraged me so. My dear boyfriend (NA) asked me if I was ‘still reading the book that makes [me] angry’ and that I ‘yelled about’.

That said, it was incredibly entertaining, keeping me (when out of anger and ready to face the story) slowly digesting every word to savor the (melo)drama. Allende is a master of curating mood and passion (it is true that I lost count of how many times the characters ‘made love’, nothing wrong with that, of course!), and the last 100 pages were some of the finest I have ever read, despite some of my moral disagreements and personal preferences (I thought some narrative choices were quite neat, compared to the beautiful rawness of other moments: an example is the character of Ferula, who is unfortunately not referenced very much after her death, who I quite liked. Despite the emotional and triumphant finale with a lovely message, some of the realness of female brutality that had truly struck my very soul was lost in Alba’s final moments with her grandfather (again, Treuba, my object of sheer disgust), who contributed to her uncomparable suffering in a non-direct but otherwise crucial manner. 

All in all, this was a safe 4 stars out of 5, because it is rare that a book will make me THIS mad, which is true testament to the author’s talents for evoking pure, unadulterated emotion. The novel also showed me a new side of the world I had not been exposed to, in an often fun, intriguing and visceral way, which is all I could really ask for.

(I am so sorry for the length of my literary rant– I promise that for future reviews I will rein it in (surely I will not be this enraged over words on a page very often!)

While L is reading her Chile book, I turn my gaze to other books: 

Roberto Bolaño is considered a literature giant. He left his native Chile at the age of fifteen, lived around the world (most notably Mexico and Catalonia), had a complex relationship with his motherland (as he was incarcerated briefly during the early days of Pinochet, but was also a fierce critic of the ‘literature elite’ of the country, including Ms Allende) and died at the age of 50 of liver failure. His estate continues to milk his fame, and his personal and private life has attracted much interest and produced several dedicated books. Years ago I tried to read his opus magna, a very celebrated and hailed 1000+ page book called 2666 which might or might not be an unfinished manuscript. 2666 features on many of the ‘best Latin American literature’ lists, and in quite a few occupies the top spot. The mammoth size of the book put me off and at the time I could not finish it. Roberto was also an author that I did not associate with Chile as he had lived many years in Catalonia close to Barcelona, and when I lived in Barcelona, he was considered a ‘local author’. For this entry of Virtual Nomad, I was thinking of returning to my intent of reading 2666 but then abandoned the thought and decided to opt for his other very celebrated book (of mere 600+ pages) Los Detectives Salvajes from 1998 (translated into English as The Savage Detectives, 2007). Again, I have the benefit of being able to read these verbal figure skaters in the original language – but honestly in this case the language itself is fairly simple, so I doubt the novel’s presentation would have suffered from translation. According to countless literature critics, the brilliance is in the form of its non-linear storytelling and “sprawling, fragmented narrative that reflects the messy reality of human experience” rather than linguistics itself. Both 2666 and The Savage Detectives feature on the 2024 New York Times ‘Best Books of the 21^st Century’ list (composed by 503 writers and academics), respectively on the 6^th and 38^th spot. 

Now, this is a very celebrated book with dedicated discussion groups and several people comparing it to On the Road by Jack Kerouac. It is particularly loved by literature critics and other writers. It is considered to reflect everything from mortality to the fleeting nature of everyday existence, and becomes a testimony to the profoundly mundane nature of life. One reviewer had tattooed the book’s name (or symbol?) on his arm to remind him of the book and someone else said that it capsulated everything that literature is about at its best. It is said to have an exceptional character development ( each with their distinctive voice); and that it reflects exile, identity and the lightness of being; and studies the creative process and the relationship between life and art.  Then of course there are people that do not get it at all, and quite a few that abandon it after the first 100 pages. One reviewer summed it up by saying:” I mean, seriously, nothing happened. And it isn’t even as if nothing has happened particularly artfully or lyrically. It’s a very prosaic kind of nothing.” 

The plot? The main characters are so-called poets named Arturo Bolano and Ulisses Lima – based on Roberto Bolaño himself (Arturo) and his real-life best friend, Mario Santiago Papasquiaro (Ulisses). They start a poetry movement called Infrarealists (also real) in 1970s Mexico City, surrounded by a large group of people, mainly other poets (many also based on real people). They hate Octavio Paz (a Mexican writer and poet, a Nobel laureate) and disappear while trying to find a lost poetess Cesárea Tijanero. The 600+ pages are divided into three parts, of which the ‘savage detectives’ is the middle, most extensive one. 

What was this book for me? Honestly? I did read all of its 600+ pages, but it took me a long time. For me it is a book that has parts of four, even five stars at times, and sections that barely hit  one – it is fragmented, very long, partly interesting, partly not. The first part, the coming-of-age diary of a young poet who reads a lot, has a lot of sex and fantasises of having even more sex, is only partly interesting. Yeah I get that the young poets (there are more than one) feel invincible and their life’s meaning is to live in the moment, and then time and age do their thing and peel the innocence out of the young souls. The second part (the most extensive) consists of testimonies of many people (some said 52 but I did not count) that knew Bolano and Ulisses, and it is my favourite part of the book. The personal testimonies contrast each other and give multiple perspectives to events, and are actually quite interesting (and almost fascinating at times) until it goes on and on forever and loses its spark once you start losing interest in the characters because quite frankly, in the end, Bolano and Ulisses are not that interesting. But some parts, I admit, are beyond brilliance – and other parts are boring as hell. The third part is again the diary of the young poet and frankly an unnecessary part. To me, it feels like Roberto just could not let go of the story and the people in it.

While I do not question the brilliance of this book, I recognise that I am not its right audience. I read books for compelling stories, deep thoughts, learning, reflecting and engaging emotional journeys – books that move or inform, and go somewhere. I got none of that from this book – it reads almost like a forensic report, an endless group study or a very long, inconclusive  yapping session. Books like this are for people who love books that are more about writing than about a story, books that talk a lot but say very little, are cerebral more than emotional. The way the movie Memento challenged convention filmmaking, this book is unconventional in its fragmented timelines and endless personal testimonies, stories within stories. I understand why a literature critic would love it but in the end, did I? That leads into a dilemma: should I give it 4-5 stars for its perceived brilliance and unconventional form or should I give it two stars because in the end I had to push myself through it and its endless descriptions of different people and their mundane life (some genuinely interesting, some really not) and long lists of names of poets. Reading is a subjective exercise so I am thinking of giving it three stars, and then still thinking that I maybe should have given it four stars or maybe I should have given it two stars. Or maybe five because it is a book like no other or maybe one because in some parts I could only read a couple of pages before being bored (and JK said that sometimes it looked like reading it was like a punishment). So yes, maybe three stars. But then, because of the very last page, I could give it four. 

Maybe that is one of the reasons for its brilliance. Then again, maybe not. 

I plan to read two other books from Chilean authors and I have hard time deciding between 

José Donoso and then other names I have been recommended, including Alia Trabucco Zerán, Diamela Eltit, Lina Meruane and Nona Fernández. My friend M CLA also recommends an anti-poet Nicanor Parra (but can I really do one more of those?). In the end I give up and decide to read José’s most famous book, El obsceno pájaro de la noche (1970), all an institution in Chilean literature; and then my failed intention was to choose between the other four to read one more book. No wonder Virtual Nomad stops are so long.

José Donoso was one of the most acclaimed writers from Chile, and part of the magical realism movement (whose arguably most famous associated writer was Colombian Gabriel Garcia Márquez). El obscene pájaro de la noche (1970, translated as The Obscene Bird of Night first in 1973 but the most recent translation from 2024 adds twenty pages that were removed from the 1973 translation). It is another dense, highly praised book, with 500+ pages. In the Prologue, a Chilean writer and literary critic Álvaro Bisama says that El obscene pájaro de la noche is “the most complex, the most unyielding and the most unbearable of José’s books”. He continues that it is unbearable because it “requires tolerance and commitment from the reader regarding its dense and nervous writing that changes its core constantly, mixing identities, and makes the reader drown in the corners of a voice that syntonises too many voices, all misaligned in their possible bodies”.(my translation). I hope I am not getting into another “talks so much and says so little” books but I give it a try. 

It IS a confusing book, and it is indeed a book that challenges the reader. Sometimes there is a narrator and sometimes there is not, and sometimes the narration changes in one paragraph. It is grotesque and intriguing, but also infuriating and at times annoying. Still, even if I did not fully love it, I found it mesmerising, mind-bending and captivating. Its messiness can be exhausting and sometimes I did not fully understand what I was reading and who was talking but it does break the forms and codes of modern literature in a mind-blowing way.  A vulgar, ludicrous and bizarre story that is perverted, maniacal and freakish. It is difficult to sum up what it is about but it reads almost as a gothic horror story of distorted people and distorted realities. The central character (maybe) is Mudito (‘the Mute’), a prisoner of his mutilated body living in a convent/maze of dark corners and deep secrets surrounded by nuns / witches. He was once the assistant to the most powerful politician of the country and runs a ‘palace of monsters’ (people with severe deformations) so that his master’s deformed son would live among equals – but because of his desire for his master’s angelic wife (who herself might be a prisoner to an old woman or maybe a yellow dog), he is transformed into the Mudito who also serves as a living doll / baby for a young woman with developmental delay and an eternal pregnancy (who was impregnated – maybe – by him or someone else -wearing a giant costume head of a –Giant). It is an astonishing roller coaster and one of the weirdest, wildest, most unusual literature rides I have ever had.  Without a hint of literature snobbism, it is nauseating and profoundly strange, but truly original. 

After a memorable book, whatever comes next will no doubt carry the burden of a difficult predecessor. My next book is by Alia Trabucco Zerán who studied creative writing in New York with a Fulbright scholarship and finished a PhD in Spanish and Latin American Studies in London. La Resta from 2015 (the English translation is called The Remainder) is her debut, a Man Booker International Prize shortlisted and winner of literature awards in Chile. 

Writing a compelling story is difficult, and Alia achieves it partially. With a fascinating start, it is a story about three people – first children, then young adults – whose parents have different destinies under the Chile of Pinochet. Paloma, a romanticized and somewhat caricatured bad girl, has lived in exile in Germany with her parents. She wants to bring her dead mother’s body to Santiago. She comes in contact with Iqueta whom she knew briefly as a child, and Iqueta’s childhood friend Felipe. Iqueta and Felipe are the alternating narrators in the book – Iqueta’s chapters are descriptive and sequential, and Felipe’s are one long sentence (often a sentence of 2,5 pages) of brain mush and obsession about dead bodies. The basic story is that Paloma’s mother’s body (that travels to Chile on a different plane than Paloma, a weird fact that is never explained) gets lost in transit and sent to Buenos Aires due to a volcano erupting, and the three need to embark on a road trip to find the body. There is much intent and effort in incorporating intergenerational trauma and guilt into the story but it fails to build anything deeper or overall meaningful, and I am also bothered by the weakesh construction of the characters that are more caricatures than real people. It is a book with a lot of cleverness and ingenious writing but loses its steam as the story progresses. 

Diamela Eltit has been called one of the most daring Latin American authors. She has been a high school Spanish teacher, a university professor, anti-Pinochet activist, wife of a former socialist presidential candidate and has held many writing workshops for young students. Jamás el fuego nunca (2007, translated in 2021 as Never did the Fire – the translator Daniel Hahn kept a diary about the translation process) is a relatively short but very dense book; structurally an internal / external monologue of a woman who is isolated in a room with her dying partner. She observes him and his bodily functions (long sentences about how she is disgusted about the way he eats rice) and his pain while reminiscing about their past as part of a radical left-wing group, the failure of romantic love and the passages of loss – the loss of the illusions of the youth and the ideals they once had and other deep personal losses. Death is approaching, his body crumbles and time is closed into a small space of a small room they cannot leave. Highly skilled writing and linguistic tricks, but as a book itself it is fairly monotone to read and hard to fully appreciate. It feels as if the descriptive flatness is deliberate to reflect the dead time in the room and the nothingness that their life has converted into. 

My final book from Chile is Sangre en el ojo (2012) by Lina Meruane (translated as Seeing Red in 2017) – a fictionalised memoir of Lucina / Lina who loses her eyesight in a foreign country, then travels to Chile and then back again. The author herself had the same condition as Lina in the book, but in real life she [the real-life Lina] did not lose her full eye sight whereas Lina in the book does. The premise is interesting but when I start reading it, I remember why auto-fiction is at times excruciating and self-serving, and it takes a long time for the book to finally fly – and towards the end it does. Let’s just say that the third act makes it worth the read, but it is a long path to get there, through a never-ending stream of consciousness and victimization. It is a short, quite dense book – and interestingly Lina was named by Roberto Bolaño as a leading voice of the new Chilean writing (maybe for the endless yapping?). The book has won several awards, and Lina has written more books about the disease. 

The Chilean Film Festival 

Chile is another cinematographic powerhouse with a generous offer of movies. I have several Chilean friends, so I look for their approval for my ‘10 films from Chile’ list. My beautiful and brave friend M DLA not only approves of the list, but also recommends a 4-part documentary series that is significant and important to her family. Unfortunately, some of the films are not available, so I end up adding others. So, in the end, my Chilean Film Festival consists of 12 cinematographic products: first the ones from the ‘10 films from Chile’ that I can find: Una mujer fantástica (A fantastic woman, 2017); Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta went to heaven, 2011); Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus (2013); Cielo (2017); El Chacotero Sentimental (1999); Machuca (2004); No (2012 – I have seen this one years ago but I want to rewatch it with the kids); Chile, las Imágenes Prohibidas (Chile, prohibited images: forty years later, 2013) and Colonia Dignidad (a Netflix documentary series of one of the world’s most disturbed and terrible cults). After the list is approved, along the way I add the Maid (2009), El castigo (The Punishment, 2022), La memoria infinita (The Eternal Memory, 2023) and what turns out to be my favourite of them all: the Mole Agent (2020).

The movies that were on the original list but not available and therefore added to the ‘watch one day’ file are Princesita (2017, Marialy Rivas), the Club (2015), Sin Norte (Lost North, 2015) and Y De Pronto el Amanecer (And Suddenly the Dawn, 2017 by Silvio Caiossi). 

In addition, the movie Gloria (2013) is on many ‘Best Movies from Chile’ lists but because I have seen it already some years ago, I did not watch it again for this occasion. It has a magnificent Julianne Moore in the title role. I also highly recommend the movie No (2012) that I have seen a few times, with another magnificent actor in the main role, Gael Bernal. 

So, let the Chilean Film Festival begin. 

In these times of growing transphobia, it is a good moment to watch Una mujer fantástica (A fantastic woman, 2017) by Sebastián Leio – a multi awarded movie about a transgender woman facing the death of her partner and the hatred of the dead partner’s family. The main character is played by a mesmerising Daniela Vega, who in 2018 was named as one of the most influential people in the world by the Time Magazine. The movie is gentle and humane without any sensational undertones. It is about people and the human experience of love and loss – and the astonishing and unreasonable hatred that some people express on the freedom and life choices of others and the constant microaggressions trans people face. The centrepiece is the understated dignity that Daniela’s character has at the vanishing of the protection she enjoyed while her partner was alive. She faces institutional humiliation (the police, doctors), passive-aggressive treatment anywhere she goes, and abusive personal attacks while dealing with grief and loneliness. The film is credited for a shift in treatment towards transgender people in 2017 and the passing of the 2018 Gender Identity Law in Chile after the movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. But while the movie created a momentum in 2017, unfortunately, its impact seems to be far forgotten in 2024. 

Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta went to heaven, 2011) by Andrés Wood is a nonlinear biography of Violeta Parra, an important figure in the revival of folk music in Chile. Born to poverty, Violeta became an important voice of the Nueva Canción (New Song Movement) denouncing the worsening social conditions in the country, political oppression and fighting for freedom of expression. Violeta has been called the Edith Piaf of Chile and she is famous for her song Gracias a la Vida. Violeta died of suicide at the age of 49.

The movie is nonlinear, beautifully filmed in warm colours and with an outstanding performance by Francisca Gavilán, who seems to be born to play Violeta. It is a poetic film which requires the audience to have some degree of knowledge about Violeta and her life. As I am somewhat familiar with her story, for me the film is a fascinating and magnificent homage to someone so talented yet volatile, complex and impulsive (the story is based on a book by her son who has been heavily involved with the making of the movie). Music plays an important part of the film and is the narrator to many of the important and devastating events in Violeta’s life; including the death of her youngest child and the torrid love affair with Swiss musician Gilbert Favre. 

Crystal fairy and the magical cactus (2013) is a refreshing small indie film from Sebastián Silva. Based on a true story – and apparently following the real events very truthfully – the actors include Silva himself, his two brothers and two American (indie) actors Michael Cera and Gaby Hoffman. The dialogue is mainly improvised (while the actors might or might not be high on Mescaline) which brings a certain freshness to the story. The story follows an obnoxious and annoying American tourist (Michael) on a quest for a psychedelic drug experience with Mescaline (found in a cactus called San Pedro/Trichocereus pachanoi). He takes a trip with three Chilean friends (Sebastián and his brothers) and accidently  invites an American new-age hippie princess named Crystal Fairy on the night before the trip begins to come along for the ride. Apparently everything that happens in the movie is what really happened. Sebastián met a woman called Crystal Fairy and her story is real. The acting is wonderful and feels very genuine. The movie does not pretend to be the best movie around, but rather an illustrated memory of a moment in time. While the movie is charming and easy to follow, even if not that memorable for most part, it is the very last minutes of the movie, and the story of Crystal Fairy, that comes out of nowhere and is truly impactful. In an interview (Movieline, 2013), Gaby Hoffman says about her character:  I talked to Seb about Crystal Fairy. I would tell him, “Never let me go too far. Don’t let me try to make her so funny that I lose sight of who this person really was”. She was a huge influence in his life.  He had a very emotional experience with her.”

Gaby Hoffman (see previous movie) said that her favourite movie from Sebastián Silva is The Maid (2009, ‘La Nana’ in Spanish). In fact, she said it is one of the best movies ever, so I decide to watch that before going back to the preset list. This is the forth movie about a live-in maid that I watch for Virtual Nomad (the others appeared in Bolivia, Brazil, Cabo Verde).  It is about Raquel, having been with the same family for 23 years and categorised by excessive use of cleaning products, who starts to have dizzy spells leading to the family wanting to bring in someone to help work with Raquel. The movie is very empathetic to Raquel’s sometimes questionable methods of defending her territory, and that is what probably makes this small movie quite nice. The characters are multidimensional which is hilarious at times – the teenage daughter who wants to fire Raquel (without thinking about the consequences) but at the dinner table (while Raquel is serving the family) gets passionate about human rights in Russia, or the mother who struggles with the temperamental Raquel and just wants to please everyone. I liked the movie and I think it is an interesting watch – it is not very different from the other three that are of a similar theme but still a reminder of the sacrifices living-in service staff make. 

Cielo (2017, “Sky” in English) by Alison McAlpine is an interesting documentary of the breathtakingly stunning night sky of the Atacama Desert. Atacama, the driest desert in the world, is situated in Northern Chile. The documentary is about the sky, but also about the scientists that work there and the people living in the area. It is about stories and the land, and the sky that seems to have its own persona. The scientists talk about their perspective and the people living in the Atacama give their perspective from encounters with spirits to the presence of the stars as old friends. It is best to watch on a wide screen as the footage of the nocturnal Atacama is spectacular. 

El Chacotero Sentimental (Christián Galaz and others, 1999) is based on an actual radio program in the Radio Station of Radio Pop & Rock in which a radio DJ gives advice to people that call the program. The three stories in the movie are based on actual, anonymous, stories of callers between February 1997 and October 1998. It was the commercially most successful movie from Chile in decades. The stories are quite different – the transition from the first story, a light-hearted but profoundly ridiculous sex story to the very dark second story is quite a contrast. The second story is the most impactful and it feels like the centrepiece, as the two others serve as buffers (the third being another story about horny people). Quite frankly, for me this film was by far the least interesting (and the lowest in overall quality) of the Virtual Nomad Chile Film Festival. 

Machuca (2004) is a superb film by Andrés Wood. Set against the background of the political instability before and after the military coup of 1972, it tells a story about a friendship of two boys from very different backgrounds. 12-year old Gonzalo comes from a wealthy family (with its own problems) and goes to an exclusive boys’ school in Santiago (based on a real school). The priest (based on a real person) that runs the school invites five boys from poor and mostly Indigenous neighbourhoods to join the school. One of the boys, Pedro Machuca, befriends Gonzalo and they enjoy an intense but short friendship in a turbulent world. Gonzalo also meets Silvana (a spectacular performance by Manuela Martelli) who joins the boys in a trio of friendship. A coming of age story through the lens of social justice and subtle complexities of daily life and relationships within the changing world. It is very touching, very real and with superb production, cinematography, acting and directing – and most importantly shows the turbulent times through the eyes of children. It does not shy away from the economic and political tensions of the Allende era but efficiently shows the brutality of the military regime. 

In 2016, in Hokkaido Japan, a couple punished their seven year old son’s bad behaviour in the car by leaving him by the road and driving off. When they drove back in a few minutes, the boy had disappeared and while the world was holding its shared breath, was not found until after seven days miraculously surviving freezing nights. It is not clear if El Castigo (The Punishment, 2022) by Matías Bize is inspired by this event, but the setting is very similar. A couple leaves their son Lucas by the road as a punishment and when they drive back, he is nowhere to be found. It is remarkably shot in real time with one long take (80 minutes) which brings intensity to the story, and one can just admire the work of the actors who totally stay in character for the whole length. It is easy to villainise one of the characters and feel empathy for the other, even with the movie trying to explain underlying feelings.  The fundamental aspect is that not all people are born to be parents, and the film explores the psychology of certain emotional neglect (be that one’s own emotions and desires, or directed towards another person). 

La Memoria Infinita (the Eternal Memory, 2023) by Maite Alberdi is a multi-awarded documentary about a couple living with the husband’s Alzheimer’s disease and consequent dementia. In this case, the couple is composed of a renowned journalist Augusto Góngora and his partner of 25 years, actress (and at one time equivalent to the Minister of Culture) Paulina Urrutia. It is a warm, gorgeous, loving and heartbreaking testimony of the deterioration of a brilliant mind and the impact it has on the people around him. Augusto had a long and acclaimed career as a journalist, restoring the shared memory of the atrocities of the Chilean military dictatorship, including the death of a close friend. The documentary is exquisite, skilfully combining videos of Augusto’s long career, his reporting of social injustice, memories of his family life and his slow, depthful but steady progress into losing himself to dementia. And it is about Paulina, seventeen years younger than Augusto, and her love and care for him. I watched it first by myself and then again with my partner JK who also found it incredibly touching.  

Because we found La Memoria Infinita so compelling, we decide to check out another of Maite’s documentaries, the (again) multi-awarded, highly praised El Agente Topo (the Mole Agent, 2020). It is an outstanding, moving and occasionally hilarious documentary of an 83-year old ‘mole agent’ investigating the living conditions of a nursing home in Santiago. The story grows into a wonderful and compassionate human story about old age, love, friendship and life itself. Of all the hugely interesting films of the Chilean Film Festival, this is my favourite. Both JK and I love it – it has heart and soul, and it owes a lot to the subject of the documentary, Sergio Chamy, a warm and caring human who carries himself and treats others with immense dignity.   

The successful Netflix comedy series A Man in the Inside (with Ted Danson) is based on this documentary but while Maite’s documentary is raw and real, the series feels artificial and unnecessarily affluent. It has lost the authenticity that Maite’s documentary has. 

A lot has been said about cults and sects but if there is a competition regarding which one is the worst of the very worst, the Colonia Dignidad cult in Chile must be close to the top of that list. I did know a bit about it beforehand, but I had never even imagined the entire, terrible truth of the cult of ultra-crazy Paul Schäfer. JK and I watched a 6-episode long, outstanding however hard to stomach Netflix documentary series, Colonia Dignidad. It is an incredible documentary to open your eyes, that you just cannot watch on one go. Paul Schäfer himself was a German religious preacher who fled Germany in 1959 due to paedophilia accusations, and founded a colony in Chile in 1961 with 300 mainly German followers – that included a large number of kidnapped children. The colony was basically set up to be his personal paedophilia haven (of young boys) dressed up as a youth center and a Christian colony where adults were separated from their children and the extreme controller Schäfer reigned through questionable theology and super restricted, tyrannical and controlling behaviour and regulations. A personal friend of Pinochet, he also welcomed the Chilean secret police to kill and torture political dissidents, often working class young people (and participated in the killing himself). A fenced, barricaded colony of brainwashing, Northern Korea-type idolatraction, torture, sexual and emotional abuse, arms possession and dealing, human rights violations, paedophilia, forced labour, fear-based control system that was allowed to continue for nearly forty years. 

(There is also a fictional movie about the commune, starring Emma Watson and Daniel but again, it is fiction whereas the series we watched shows the awful truth). 

My friend M DLA recommends Chile, las Imágenes Prohibidas (Chile, prohibited images: forty years later) which is a four-episode miniseries  that show audio-visual material mainly from foreign correspondents filmed during the early days. M DLA has a personal connection with the series as her parents both are human rights lawyers connected with the original footage and the act of restoring it. 

The series has four episodes, all available on Youtube but unfortunately only in Spanish which means that JK, who would really love to see this, cannot join me in watching. It is an outstanding series. The series not only shows unedited material, but the producers also looked for the people in the original footage taken during the dictatorship and asked them to reflect on the time the events were filmed. The result is an astonishing account of different events, many of them very upsetting. For example, in the first episode, a woman called Corina tells of how her father and four brothers were taken, disappeared and how their remains were found in ‘mine ovens’. There are many stories of disappearances and people (especially mothers) looking for their loved ones. Stories of state terror, brutality of the police forces, violence and personal stories of loss, despair and heartbreak. 

Art during the pandemic

(photos from Instagram of Christina Vera Aguilar)

Christina Vera Aguilar is an interesting Chilean artist whose mother and grandfather are artists (she a painter, sculptor and writer, and he a muralist). Christina represented Chile in an international children’s art competition at the age of 9 and has been painting ever since. She lives in Concepcion and says that her art is “influenced by the natural beauty of central Chile and its Pacific coastline”. In her art, she is interested in exploring the spiritual and mystic side of the landscape and her environment. 

Next stop: China 

Thank you beautiful L for your proof reading!

In 2024, Central African Republic was considered the world’s third poorest country and several sources place its neighbour Chad within or nearing the top ten poorest countries globally. Global Finance names Chad as the13th poorest nation, and the UNDP Human Development Report puts Chad at number 189 out of 193 in ranking countries’ positions of economic prosperity globally. Whatever ranking it has, it is clear that Chad faces significant challenges,intensified with the arrival of refugees due to ongoing conflicts, most recently the 2023 Sudan crisis. Chad is, of course, much more than its international poverty ranking – it is also the world’s 20th largest country, has three different geographical zones and is home to over 200 ethnic groups. The Sahara Desert pretty much covers Northern Chad, and Chad is the largest landlocked country in Africa. Its name comes from Lake Chad (that is named after the Kanuri word for ‘lake’). But first, as always, food.

Food: Five countries in one afternoon

When life gets incredibly busy and weeks are filled with final exams and end of year events, time slips through our fingers and there is less space for everything. We decide to organise a BIG Sunday afternoon for a few upcoming stops and celebrate Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo and the DRC all on one afternoon. This is not to say that these are similar countries or the same, it is just an opportunity to get people together for one big night and proceed on our Virtual Nomad path. Therefore this introduction will be the same for the five countries but each time the specific entry will focus on the country that the stop is about.

The African Afternoon gathers 30 people around the table, a mix of seasoned Virtual Nomads and delightful newbies. Besides myself and my partner JK, we have my children A (11) and L (17), L’s boyfriend NA (18) and their lovely friend CC (17). Then on their 12th stop are AK, DK and their adult child AK (their other child MK usually comes along but today she is unfortunately sick). Other seasoned Nomads are dear friends JD, KD and their son KD (15), on their 7^th stop. A 4^th stop for L* and her daughter S*, our first friends in Australia. A 2^nd stop for our resident Canadian CL (see the stop for Canada) and his beautiful wife JJ and children EL (10) and SL (12). A Wonderful fellow European CB comes to her 2^nd stop with her delightful daughters JB (11) and EB (8), bringing her husband CBB along (his first stop). And then we are lucky to have six great newbies – a joyous family of four KFFJ (including children aged 11 and 13) and a lovely couple ER that lives next door. And then of course my stepchild FK (15) and CH, Special Adviser to Virtual Nomad – she has been to over 140 countries and counting, and always joins in between her travels. A wonderful group of amazing people, and everyone brings a dish. 

In this entry, I will only talk about the Chad food of our happy, hilarious, joyful, warm and inviting African Afternoon. 

Delightful newbies KFFJ bring Daraba, a typical peanut vegetable stew of Chad. They have diligently prepared for their first Virtual Nomad and looked at around ten different recipes of how to prepare an authentic Daraba, and even consulted friends with knowledge of the area. Very appreciated dedication! ☺ 

In Chad, many people grow their own food which includes a range of fruit, vegetables and grains. Daraba usually has a mixture of vegetables (and sometimes meat, our version was vegetarian) – the ingredients depend on the regions and availability of the food sources. The dish that KFFJ bring is rich and delicious, and well welcomed by the African Afternoon crowd. 

JK prepares Bangaou, a traditional dish that includes vegetables and sometimes meat or fish. The recipe that he followed included sweet potatoes, peas and chicken with spices. It is not originally a strong-flavoured dish and can come across a bit bland so JK included salt and a variety of spices to make it sturdier. We learn that in Chad, Bangaou is typically eaten with hands and very typical to rural communities. As we are mixing several dishes, we have decided not to use hands this time, already for the reason that our dish is clearly more of a stew than a porridgy meal. Like many other dishes from Chad, the ingredients vary from what is available and a vegetarian version is consumed when meat is not available. 

JK also prepared Jus de Fruit, similar to a fruit smoothie or a milkshake. Dairy is not common in Southern Chad, however more typical in the North. In Jus de Fruit, milk is added to create a creamy form. The fruit used depends on the seasonal availability – anything from mango and pineapple to guava, papaya and even oranges. JK prepares the drink with ripe mangoes and the result is wonderful. It is a very easy drink to prepare and feels quite refreshing in the southern summer. 

I prepared a Chadian salad – Salade du Tchad. It carries an unusual combination of bananas, brown rice, cucumbers, almonds and raisins with spices such as coriander, cumin and cayenne. While the mix is not ordinary, the taste is wonderful. It is one of the two salads of our African Afternoon (the other being the Kachumbari, eaten in both the DRC and the Republic of Congo) and adds an exotic flavour to our great selection of African dishes. Very easy to make, and while there are a few variations, I followed a recipe that not only felt authentic but also I thought would suit the taste buds of the 30 people. (Proofreading note: I (L) readily ate more than one bowl, which is quite a feat as a salad– highly recommended!)

The circle of violence 

Chad is another country in the region with political instability that hinders its development along with the wellbeing of the people in the country. Chad has historically been a place of trade routes where empires have risen and fallen, including the Kanem-Bornu Empire, approximately in years 700 – 1380 CE and the Muslim State of the Sultanete of Bagirmi (1522 – 1897 CE) that laid its richness on slave trade. The French then, already active in Africa, claimed Chad to France in 1920.

Chad became independent in 1960 but by then, the country was already divided in ethnic, religious and economic terms. Comme d’habitude, greed and hunger for power prevailed. The first president was of course an awful dictator, François Tombalbaye, who did a poor job and was assassinated in 1975. The Islamic North was unhappy with his presidency and started a Civil War in 1965 that lasted until 1979 when the Islamic forces put an end to the rule of the Christian south. Hissen Habré was another president and dictator (in power 1982 – 1990), supported at first by France and the United States, and very notorious for human rights abuses. He resulted victorious in the Chadian-Libyan War (1978 – 1987). Hissen was overthrown in another coup by his own general Idriss Déby in 1990. Dictator Hissen escaped to Senegal where he was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 on different grounds – including rapes, killings, sexual slavery, torture and ordering the killing of 40,000 people. He died in 2021 of Covid. In the meanwhile, president Ibriss then was president from 1990 until 2021 (his death) and successfully eliminated term limitations and miraculously was re-elected five times until he was killed by a rebel organisation FACT in 2021. During his regime, Idriss was authoritarian, the governance was poor, corruption rampant and his favourites were given state money and positions – which is also demonstrated in the fact that his son Mahamat Déby is now the president. 

In a nutshell, life in Chad has not been easy for normal citizens for decades and political instability continues with frequent violent conflicts. Like its neighbour, Central African Republic, Chad has many resources but the benefits do not reach the general population, with  30% living in extreme poverty with very limited access to education and healthcare, and with severe insecurity. The official languages are Arabic and French but more than one hundred other languages are used such as Maba, Masalit, Bagirmi, Sara, Kanem-Bornu and Tama. The religious divide is primarily between the Islamic north ( aprox. 54% of the population) and Christian south (aprox. 42%). Chad’s capital and biggest city is N’Djamena, and climate change poses a threat to the country’s arid and dry climate.

Only one book from Chad

Reading Chad proves to be more of a challenge than any of the other stops so far. The only easily available book is Told by Starlight in Chad (1962) by Joseph Braim Seid that several reviewers have completely panned – which prompts me not to waste my time for something that is not going to be good. After some struggling, I am able to access one book of Koulsy Lamko, a Chad-born playwright and novelist who left the country in 1979 at the age of 20 to escape the civil war. He lived a few years in Burkina Faso and was involved in the community theatre movement. He also lived in Rwanda where he finished his PhD on African theatre. He currently lives in Mexico. 

Koulsy’s book Les racines de yucca (2011) is an autofiction about a writer’s block. An African writer lives in Mexico and is allergic to paper. He is encouraged to travel and then goes to Yucatan where he takes interest in the writings of a Guatemalan refugee Teresa. The author reflects on writing, books, writing again and refers a bit to his African background but does not really talk much about Chad. There are glimpses of Latin/Central America and then about writing again. I read the book in French and I am quite sure there is no translation – but it also is not a book that I loved. I found it boring, the endless yapping which I am sure could be interesting for someone. But that someone is not me. 

Another author is Nimrod, a Chadian poet, essayist and novelist who has lived in France since 1991. He has a broad production of poetry, novels and essays that seem not to be available to order outside the French speaking world, so unfortunately I have no access to his work.

Movies: Chadian film festival of Mahamat-Saleh Haroun 

Even if I have not had much luck with Chadian literature, the movie stop is a delight. Someone said that Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is the best African contemporary film director. His movies are set and made in Chad even though he himself has lived in France since 1982 when he left Chad due to the civil wars of the 1980s.  He directed the first feature film from Chad, the 1999 film Bye bye Africa. He was Minister of Culture of Chad for a year (2017-2018), and signed a letter with 50 other filmmakers in 2023 to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. 

His 2002 film Abouna occupies the top spot of several ‘the best African movies’ lists – but many of his other movies also come strong on different ‘top10’ lists. Based on stellar reviews of several of his movies, I feel that the Chadian film stop will feature quite a few of his movies so I set myself to watch Abouna (2002), Daratt – Dry Season (2006), a Screaming Man (2010), A Season in France (2017), Lingui (2021), and the debut film, Bye bye Africa (1999). I will start with the most famous one. 

Among the many films by Mahamat-Saleh, Abouna (2002) is probably the most famous, featuring on numerous lists of best African films. Only the third feature film from Chad (and Mahamat-Saleh’s second feature film), it is gorgeously shot, which I learn later is common for Mahamat-Salen’s films. The film is filled with warm colours, outstanding arid landscapes and tender, caressing close ups. It tells a melancholic but tender story of two brothers abandoned by their father, and the series of life events that follow that change the course of their life. It is a movie that is unrushed but does not feel slow, it is sad but does not feel melodramatic, it is hopeful but does not feel sugary. It is a calm, absolutely beautifully filmed movie about love and loss, innocence and isolation. It is also about the individual’s choice – the lack of it or the making of it. What Mahamat-Saleh has explained in an interview is that the disappearance of a father is common in Chad, and the women left behind (the boys’ mother) are forced to carry the burden of what is left – some more successfully than others. I would not call it the best movie from the African continent but it is worthwhile to see and the aftertaste is a melancholic one of what could have been but then was not, and of how those left behind must collect the remaining pieces of life stories as well as they can. 

Close behind Abouna in movie rankings from Africa is Mahamat-Saleh’s other multi awarded movie Daratt, also called the Dry Season (2006). It is –again – a gorgeously filmed story about revenge with long pauses and little dialogue. The story is very simple: a 40-year civil war has come to an end and the government decides to pardon all war criminals. An old blind man Gumar Abatcha is outraged and orders his grandson Atim (his name meaning ‘orphan’) to go and find a man called Nassara – the killer of his son and Atim’s father. But revenge is not easy and life is more complicated than that. 

It is an interesting movie with outstanding scenography – it is just so beautiful to watch that sometimes the story is lost in the beauty of the images (nearly illustrations). In essence, it is quite a dry movie which does not evoke a strong emotional reaction albeit the beauty of its photographs. Nevertheless, it is hugely admirable of Mahamat-Saleh to once more tackle a difficult subject with boldness. While filming the movie in N’Djamena, a rebel attack in the city nearly caused the filming to be abandoned which brings a certain hidden edge to the film. 

A Screaming Man (2010) is Mahamat-Saleh’s fifth feature film and it returns him to the themes of Daratt (his third film). After a movie about the experience of Chadian immigrants in France (Sex, Okra and Salted Butter, 2008), Mahamat-Saleh is back in Chad, this time not post- armed conflict but during it. It is a story about fathers and sons, about loyalty and betrayal, and about the reaping change of times. It is a mature, stunning movie that masterfully blends economic and political reality with personal trials. The main actor Youssouf Djaoro does an outstanding job and as in all of Mahamat-Saleh’s movies, the filmography is phenomenal. It is a movie that communicates a lot without saying too much. It is slow paced, true, but also multilayered and moving. There is not much screaming, at least out loud..

A season in France (2017) is Mahamat-Saleh’s seventh feature film and this time most of the action happens in France. It is an incredibly poignant movie for the current times – a story about refugees / immigrants and the unbearable unfairness of birth origin. The central character Abbas (a very good Eriq Ebouaney) has escaped a civil war and fled to France with his two children and his university professor brother. His wife died during the flight, and while he is in a new loving relationship with a woman of Polish origin, he is haunted by the past and scared about the insecure future. All he ever wants is to build a good life for his children and his new partner but being an immigrant is tough, both for the loss of dignity and the humiliation that it brings along, but also for his manly pride. The movie is masterful in also bringing in the point of view of Abbas’ partner (played by a superb Sandrine Bonnaire) who is giving and ready for what it takes to keep her new family when it requires much more than just love. A very compassionate, moving and subtle film. 

Lingui, The Sacred Bonds (2022) by, again, Mahamat-Saleh, is a superb film at so many levels. The cinematography is again outstanding, filled with warm light and the yellowish ground colour of the city streets. The story itself is about the silently rebellious women in a deeply patriarchal society – a very strong statement about a woman’s right to her body, be that a rejection of genital mutilation or unwanted pregnancy, and the role that society, patriarchy and religion play in deciding those freedoms and stances. It is also about the strength of motherhood, the bond between a mother and a child, and the sacrifices a mother is ready to make for the sake of her child. The lead actress Achouackh Abakar Souleymane, playing the mother, is wonderful and the camera loves her face and expressive eyes. It is slow paced, true, but contains so much symbolic power and deeper meanings in its nuances. It is a bold and fierce movie with heart and conviction. The word Lingui, in Chad, means sacred bonds – and that can have so many meanings in a movie that basically tells about the submissive role women are forced to have in a society where men dictate the societal norms and decide on women’s bodily autonomy. 

And finally, I watch Mahamat-Saleh’s first , and in fact Chad’s first feature film, Bye Bye Africa (1999), a semi-documentary about a Chadian director (played by Mahamat-Saleh) who returns to his home country. Encounters with the past do not go exactly as expected and many trials and disappointments follow – but some hope and happy moments play through as well. It is intriguing but feels like an early work, in which the poetic landscapes that are so typical of Mahamat-Saleh’s work are still developing. It is an interesting study of identity, belonging and storytelling. 

The music fusion of H’Sao 

H’Sao is a band formed by three brothers and their best friend who moved from Chad to Canada in the early 2000s. Their music is melodic, often using generously different voices and mixing influences from traditional Chadian music to more modern genres. All the members are superb singers, and the three brothers learned their craft from their pastor father. The name of the group comes from a mix of the French word for ‘swallow’ (H = hirondelle) and ‘Sao’ after the first peoples that inhabited the lands around Lake Chad. They have gained international fame since the first album H’Sao (2003) followed by Vil 235 (2009), Oria (2013) and Saar (2015). Their songs often have a strong social justice message or focus on identity, roots and heritage. 

Next stop: Chile

thank you L for your proof reading

How to celebrate a country that we hear so little about, and the little we hear is bad or sad news? Recently we stopped in Cameroon and now we have come to stop in its neighbour – the Central African Republic (CAR). It is a country that has been living through one of the world’s forgotten conflicts. The violence has lasted for more than a decade and has resulted in thousands of victims, nearly half a million internally displaced more than 700,000 refugees living in neighbouring countries. The ongoing conflict has also hindered the country’s development with 70% of the population living in extreme poverty (according to several sources, including the World Bank and UNDP). CAR is currently considered the third poorest country in the world (World Bank, October 2024), the third least developed (UNDP, Human Development Report 2024) and the worst country to be young. 

But first, as always, food. 

Food: Five countries in one afternoon

When life gets incredibly busy and weeks are filled with final exams and end of year events, time slips through your fingers and there is less space for everything. We decide to organise a BIG Sunday afternoon incorporating multiple Virtual Nomad food stops. We celebrate Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo all at once. This is not to say that these countries are similar or the same, it is just an opportunity to get people together for one big night and progress on our Virtual Nomad path. Therefore this introduction will be the same for the five countries but each time the specific entry will focus on the country that the stop is about.

The African Afternoon gathers 30 people around the table, a mix of seasoned Virtual Nomads and delightful newbies. Besides of myself and my partner JK, we have my children A (11) and L (17), L’s boyfriend NA (18) and their lovely friend CC (17). Then on their 12th stop are AK, DK and their adult child AK (their other child MK usually comes along but today she is unfortunately sick). Other seasoned Nomads are dear friends JD, KD and their son KD (15), on their 7^th stop. A 4^th stop for L* and her daughter S*, our first friends in Australia. A 2^nd stop for our resident Canadian CL (see the stop for Canada) with his beautiful wife JJ and children EL (10) and SL (12). A Wonderful fellow European CB comes to her 2^nd stop with her delightful daughters JB (11) and EB (8), bringing her husband CBB along (his first stop). And then we are lucky to have great six newbies – a joyous family of four KFFJ (including children aged 11 and 13) and a lovely couple ER that lives next door. And then of course my stepchild FK (15) and CH, Special Adviser to Virtual Nomad – she has been to over 140 countries and counting, and always joins in between her travels. A wonderful group of amazing people, and everyone brings a dish. 

In this entry, I will only talk about the Central African Republic (CAR) food of our happy, hilarious, joyful, warm and inviting African Afternoon. 

The cuisine in CAR relies on easily available ingredients such as cassava, peanuts, sweet potato and whatever else is available. CB and her wonderful family bring a delicious Masala Vegetable Stew – with the masala being an Indian influence. This stew is a blend of locally grown vegetables with aromatic spices such as cumin, coriander and garlic. The vegetable stew is a typical dish for the region where access to meat is scarce and the population needs to rely on available resources. As with many dishes from the region, it is not rich in flavour or with a particularly exotic taste. Around 45% of the people experience food insecurity so any available ingredients are utilised. 

JJ is an outstanding cook and she and family bring Kanda Pumpkin Seed Meatballs (with rice). Meat is not very common in the Central African Republic but Kanda is a traditional meal and a very popular dish. It is usually made with beef, garlic, onion and pumpkin seeds. The meatballs are cooked in a rich tomato sauce with spices. In CAR, there are two versions of Kanda. The traditional Kanda that JJ prepared and a version with peanuts and okra, Kanda ti nyma. The addition of pumpkin seeds in the traditional Kanda really adds something special into the dish. Pumpkin seeds in CAR are an essential addition to the diet as they are very high in nutrients and antioxidants and have many health benefits. I’m told by the meat-eating Virtual Nomads that, just like the vegetable stew, this dish is really delicious. 

AK brings a fryer and frozen plantains, and goes to work in the front yard. The result is amazingly delicious fried plantains – very typical of the central African region. Fried plantains are consumed not only in CAR but in all the other countries that we celebrated in the African Afternoon. The CAR climate is perfectly suited for plantains and they constitute an affordable and easily available food source. The most common way of cooking plantains is frying, and AK does an outstanding job. In CAR the plantains are most common as a side dish but can also be consumed as a snack. Plantains are a close relative to bananas but it is recommendable not to eat them raw. While bananas have a soft texture, plantains are firmer. 

Cassava is one of the main ingredients in the CAR kitchen. In order to honour the significance of cassava, I decide to offer cassava chips that an online shop sends me. We have four different flavours: original (bland, without much flavour), lime and cracked pepper (probably not very authentic CAR), sweet chilli and sour cream (even less so) and sea salt. In the end, they have very little to do with CAR but at least they give a hint of the Cassava taste. Cassava is also called manioc or yucca and it is a common food crop in CAR. It can grow in dry and nutrient-poor soils and is very resilient to drought. Raw cassava can be toxic so cooking it is labour intensive. Cassava not only feeds the population but is used for many other purposes, from generating ethanol to different industrial products. It also provides food for animals. In regions of food insecurity such as CAR, cassava is a key source of food .

Another food problem is that the CAR cuisine includes a lot of insects, such as caterpillars, crickets and grasshoppers. While hunting for caterpillars in the backyard sounds like a stupid idea and ordering insects online even more bizarre, a way to honour the CAR food tradition of eating caterpillars and other insects is to bring them in a lolly form. The lolly caterpillars / centipedes are a symbolic acknowledgement of CAR’s culinary traditions. The younger Virtual Nomads are especially happy with them as lollies are not usually offered as a part of a main dish. 

A turbulent country by the Ubangi River 

The paradox is that the Central African Republic is a very resource-rich country with some of the poorest people in the world. Once called the Ubangi-Shari by the French colonisers (due to the name of the two rivers, Ubangi and Chari), it became independent in 1960. The capital Bangui was ranked in 2024 as the most expensive capital city in Africa and the 14^th most expensive city in the world. Something does not quite add up, you might say, and that is true. It is again the poor people that suffer the most. 

Several peoples have inhabited the lands of CAR for an unknown period of time. One of the first were the Aka but several others followed (including the Ubangian and Bantu people). The area was a source of slaves from the 1600s, with this horrific trade going on for centuries. The slaves were first traded to Europe and the Muslim world. In the 1800s the Bobangi became slave traders and sold their captives primarily to the Americas. The French colonisers arrived in 1885 and claimed the area for France in 1894 as part of French Equatorial Africa. There was some back and forth with Germany as in 1911 the Treaty of Fez decreased the area controlled by France. But the French returned with a brutal hand and the extraction of rubber, ivory and coffee was imposed in a ruthless manner, with any protest harshly quashed. Of all of the French colonies, the rule in ‘Ubangi-Shari’ is said to have been the most brutal. 

The first Premier was Barthélemy Boganda, who changed the country’s name to the Central African Republic. He hoped to build a union of African states, designed the flag and wrote the lyrics to the National Anthem. He could have become the first president but died in a suspicious plane crash in 1959. Independence came in 1960 but it was not smooth sailing. Chaos followed and the country rapidly became bankrupt. One of the country’s ‘leaders” was an insane, self-proclaimed Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa who was the country’s second president (unelected) from 1965 to 1979. He declared himself president/emperor for life. His coronation cost a third of the country’s annual budget. He had 17 wives, was sentenced to death for the murder of schoolchildren (a terrible story) and had other criminal charges laid against him, including cannibalism. He was pardoned in 1993 and died soon after. A number of his children have clearly inherited some of his insane tendencies. 

Several coups followed the Bokassa regime and even more peacekeeping missions by UN peacekeepers. Volatile and mostly undemocratic leaders wielded power, leading to fierce power struggles and rebellions, weak and inefficient governance and atrocious human rights violations. The Central African Bush War (2004 – 2007) was a conflict between UFDR rebels (Union of Democratic Forces for Unity) and government forces. Violence, instability, displacement and suffering for the general population ignited again in 2013, leading to an internal conflict (also referred as a civil war) that has been ongoing ever since. It is a very complex conflict with deep roots in the country’s unstable past, overlaid with ethnic, religious, political and economic issues. The ethnic tensions include divisions between the Christian and Muslim communities. The economic factors include fighting for control of the country’s natural resources – especially diamonds, gold and timber. The armed groups are numerous and other countries have also sought to get a slice of the pie. 

There have been various peace agreements, peacekeeping missions and international efforts but the situation is far from resolved. The latest peace agreement (Khartoum Agreement, 2019) has not successfully ended the violence, conflict and humanitarian crises. The general population is gravely affected. Millions live in very difficult conditions with 70% of the population living in extreme poverty (90% without electricity) and the threat of violence is ever-present. 

BOOKS: Co-wives and street kids 

“The sun, like the mosquito, was pansexual and gregarious; every variety of flesh was welcome”

“When the presidential elections results came in, the outgoing president had not won the first round with 120% of the vote. He could have, if he’d wanted, but he’d chosen 66%”

My first CAR book is Co-wives, Co-widows by Adrienne Yabouza (2015). Adrienne has become a notable figure in the world of literature. She is multilingual and worked as a hairdresser in CAR before fleeing the civil war with her five children, first to the Republic of the Congo and then to France where they gained political asylum. The book is predominantly about female friendship, in this case two women who share a husband and then become co-widows. It is a funny little book with sometimes quite simple – perhaps intentionally – childlike writing, but with hilarious metaphors and a darker background. The co-widows find strength in each other and other women who help them to bring justice to a situation where they have been treated unfairly. Through seemingly simple writing it exposes institutional corruption, political instability, rampant inequality and the fragile place for women in a society where, in the end, women are commodities and money dictates power and justice. It’s a mix of social commentary, camouflaged political statement, romance novella naivety and some degree of fairy-tale. 

A book that is very hard to find (and only available in French) is Nago et sa Grand-mère (Nago and his grandmother, 2017) by Georgette Florence Koyt-Deballé. Georgette works at the University of Bangui where she teaches English literature. She is Sorbonne-educated and the Secretary General of the UNESCO Commission for the Central African Republic. I originally wanted to read her book Ravages (2006) but it is even harder to find so I end up reading the only book out of Georgette’s nine that I can find. Nago is a boy who lives with his grandmother and dreams about becoming a boxer, like his hero Muhammad Ali. I feel that I am not the right audience as it is clearly intended for younger readers. There are tender moments, and thoughts about dreams and school, etc. It is a shortish book and whilst I did not find it particularly engaging, I am not the target audience. 

Then things get a bit more complicated. It is impossible to get a hold of the next books I have on my reading list. Le Dernier Survivant de la caravane (1998) by Étienne Goyemidé and Daba’s Travel from Ouadda to Bangui (1970) by Makombo Bamboté – the first book published in Central African Republic. 

I end up reading a comic book by CAR artist Didier Kassaï and British photojournalist Marc Ellison called A House Without Windows (2018). It is a graphic novel about children in CAR – street kids in Bangui, malnourished children in the countryside, children affected by the conflict. It is an astonishing book that mixes photos, illustrations and a 360˚video documentary. It shows the cruel reality of children in a broken country. The title reflects what the authors believe the Central African Republic has become. When a house has no windows, no one can see in but also you cannot see the world outside. It is a photo documentary and an illustration of what these children are facing. The photos in the book are accompanied by short reflections, many of which are based on real interviews. In one series of illustrations a boy who escaped from a children’s centre says:” I left the children’s centre. They have witches there… I was afraid that one of them was going to put a curse on me, so I got up during the night and broke his nose before he could do that… then I ran away. I am afraid of living on the streets, but I’m more afraid of witches.” The photos show how dangerous it is to sleep outside, and there is only one centre for street kids in Bangui. The priest working for the centre estimates that there are around 6,000 children sleeping rough in Bangui. The children have escaped domestic violence, lost their parents due violence or been abandoned by their mothers once their fathers have died – or they are accused of witchcraft. Then there are all the children that face poverty, hunger and violence. It is a heartbreaking book of devastating, exquisite art.

One movie and many documentaries 

The ongoing conflict and severe financial difficulties have put limitations on the potential for film production in CAR. The first feature-length film was Le Silence de la Forêt (The Silence of the Forest, 2003) – a collaborative directional effort by the late CAR director Didier Florent Ouénangaré and Cameroonian Bassek Ba Kobhio. The project was Didier’s idea, based on the book by Étienne Goyémidé. The story is about a French-educated man called Gonaba who returns to his homeland CAR and is consumed by his idea of bringing ‘civilisation’, education and equality to the discriminated Baka people (sometimes referred to with the pejorative name Pygmies), who live in the forest areas between CAR, Cameroon and Republic of the Congo. Gonada ends up in a Baka village with the intent of teaching the village people about modern ways, but of course they end up teaching him more. When he tells village chief that one of the village people, Manga, was beaten and ridiculed by his urban employer, the village chief says that as long as Manga’s spirit was free, he cannot be owned. It is an interesting and respectable, if somewhat clumsy, tale of racism within Africa. The plot itself is well intended but quite mediocre and a bit infuriating when it comes to Gonada’s relationships with women. However the cinematography, scenery, landscape, music and dance, and clear knowledge of the Baka culture makes it quite an intriguing watch. 

There are not many other feature films to watch, except those that are filmed in CAR by overseas directors. Examples include Oka! (2011) about an American ethno-musicologist who lived with the Baka for 25 years and Camille (2019) about a 26-year old French photographer Camille Lepage who was killed in CAR in 2014. 

So I turn to documentaries

There are an estimated one to two million Chinese immigrants in Africa. Directed by Pascale Appora-Gnekindy (CAR national) and Ningyi Sun (Chinese national), the documentary Eat Bitter (2023) is about the Chinese influence in the CAR building industry. Chinese construction manager Jianmin Luan has moved to CAR from China to further his career. He admits that in China he could not be a manager but CAR gives him the opportunity to bring wellbeing to his family and save for retirement. But the political situation and the possibility of another civil war threatens his business. The Chinese construction workers discuss the situation and some of them consider leaving the country if the security situation deteriorates. Jianmin struggles with external factors (deadlines, weather, the political situation) and family challenges (the mental health struggles of his wife in China). Another participant in the documentary is sand diver Thomas Boa. He is a single father who is employed in an incredibly dangerous profession – diving for sand that is sold to the Chinese construction companies, sometimes in areas controlled by armed militias. He takes risks in order to provide for his family. He dreams of starting his own sand diving business, which begins when he buys his own canoe. While the local workers befriend their Chinese supervisors, they are also aware of the inequality in living conditions, financial remuneration and physical security that separates them and the Chinese immigrants. It’s a very interesting and poignant documentary, currently available on Youtube (October 2024). 

Central African Republic, At Your Own Risk (2021) by a French documentary director Guillaume L’Hotellier is a documentary about the challenges of public transport in CAR. It shows a country with a great wealth of natural resources that are not directed to the general population or the country’s crumbling infrastructure. The roads are terrible and dangerous, and public transport is scarce. The documentary shows three different ways of travelling and their perils and challenges each present. It includes a two-day journey in a truck carrying close to a hundred passengers, driving on water filled roads with enormous potholes. Some of the passengers travel for 18 hours standing upright, There is also the perils of travelling on leaking boats that have to employ people to constantly bail out water, and on occasions sink. And then there are the ‘ambulance’ motorbikes that service isolated villages with very limited healthcare. A very impactful and skilfully shot documentary, it is currently available on Youtube (October 2024). 

There are incredibly interesting documentaries regarding CAR but as happens with many documentaries that have finished their festival rounds, they are not easily available. We would have loved to watch the highly regarded and awarded We, Students! (2022) by CAR filmmaker Rafiki Fariala about the challenges university students face at the University of Bangui, that vary from terrible living conditions to sexual harassment and corrupt professors. Another documentary that I wanted to watch is The Burden (2023) by Elvis Ngaibino Sabin. It tells a story about a couple with AIDS who are active in their local church where their pastor tells people that AIDS is a divine punishment.

I hope to be able to find these documentaries in the future and then update this part of the stop. 

Afrobeat and rhythms from Central African Republic 

Marlène Ngaro is an actress and singer originally from Central African Republic but has been living in France for many years. She blends African sounds with modern influences and raises awareness of African music and her heritage through her work. Another strong female vocalist from CAR with a powerful voice is Laetia Zomzambé who uses her platform to advocate for women’s empowerment and African unity. Her genre could be described as ‘Afrobeat’. We especially enjoyed her song ‘Fafa’. Other people on our ‘African Afternoon’ playlist from Central African Republic are Chenceko (afropop/afrobeat), Marie-Josée Kassa (afrobeat), Erik Aliana (afropop/afrobeat), Babo Mado (trad music, afrobeat), Dama Damani (trad music, afrobeat) and Simone Raval (afro-fusion). It is a great, diverse selection. 

Next stop: Chad

Thank you JK for your proofreading! 

Cape Verde should actually be under Cabo Verde as it is the name of the country, but we just happen to follow a pre list of countries so first of all – our apologies to Cabo Verde for following the English spelling.

Even A (11) who knows all the countries and their capitals in the world, struggles a bit to find Cabo Verde. But as he speaks Spanish, he quickly figures out what the name means: ‘Green Cape’. It is a country we hear so little about and might not know anything at all if it weren’t for one of the goddesses of world music, the great late Cesaria Évora. I saw her once in a concert and she was everything I expected her to be and more. 

But first, as always. Food.

Food: Five countries on one afternoon

When life gets incredibly busy and weeks are filled with final exams and end of year events, time slips through fingers and there is less space for everything. We decide to organise a BIG Sunday afternoon for a few upcoming stops and celebrate Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo all in one afternoon. This is not to say that these are similar countries or the same, it is just an opportunity to get people together for one big night and proceed on our Virtual Nomad path. Therefore this introduction will be the same for the five countries but each time the specific entry will focus on the country that the stop is about.

The African Afternoon gathers 30 people around the table, a mix of seasoned Virtual Nomads and a handful of delightful newbies. Besides myself and my partner JK, we have my children A (11) and L (17), L’s boyfriend NA (18) and their lovely friend CC (17). Then on their 12th stop are AK, DK and their adult child AK (their other child MK usually comes along but today she is unfortunately sick). Other seasoned Nomads are dear friends JD, KD and their son KD (15), on their 7^th stop. A 4^th stop for L* and her daughter S*, our first friends in Australia. A 2^nd stop for our resident Canadian CL (see the stop for Canada) and his beautiful family wife JJ and children EL (10) and SL (12). A wonderful fellow European CB comes to her 2^nd stop with her delightful daughters JB (11) and EB (8), bringing her husband CBB along (his first stop). And then we are lucky to have another six great newbies – a joyous family of four KFFJ (children aged 11 and 13) and a lovely couple ER who live next door. And then of course my stepchild FK (15) and CH, Special Adviser to Virtual Nomad – she has been to over 140 countries and counting, and joins in between her travels. A wonderful group of amazing people, and everyone brings a dish. 

In this entry, I will only talk about the Cabo Verde food of our happy, hilarious, joyful, warm and inviting African Afternoon.

Cachupa is considered more than simply the national dish of Cabo Verde. It has an enormous cultural value for Cabo Verdeans at home and diaspora. It is said that Cachupa represents the identity of Cabo Verde as it embodies the country’s history, blending African, Portuguese and other culinary traditions. As Cabo Verde had no inhabitants before Portuguese colonisation, it is a reflection of Cabo Verde’s cultural mix. It usually contains maize, onions, green bananas, sweet potatoes, spinach, corn and beans. Root vegetables are considered to be of African influence, and the dish evolved with locally available ingredients. Cabo Verde has arid soil which offers limited agricultural resources so the selection of ingredients is laterally narrow. For diaspora, Cachupa is an important feature to connect with the motherland and to preserve cultural identity. I noticed this in particular in one of the documentaries I watched for this stop about the Cabo Verdean immigration in Rhode Island. For our Virtual Nomad stop, we have entrusted the preparation of Cachupa to L*, an excellent cook. A great choice, as the dish is wonderful!

L (17) and boyfriend NA (18) are in charge of the Banana Fritters or “fritada de banana” as locally called. It is a dessert food but we eat them as part of the main meal as they become quite thick in our treatment. Banana Fritters are usually made from very soft or ripe bananas (mashed) mixed with flour and sugar, a typical street food or snack in Cabo Verde. Our fritters might have needed a bit more time to settle (the dough) but nevertheless they were quite nice. As they were part of a larger African Afternoon food offer, they blended in quite nicely without being stellar. (L proofreading note here: although the batter was very delicious, we must have gotten confused in our recipe while doubling the ingredient list, due to the resulting thickness. One of the children asked me whether NA and I had prepared fake meat as our meal!)

I am not a very good cook, but sometimes I hit the spot, this time a sweet one. I prepare a dessert called Dulce de Papaya, a papaya dessert that is really yummy. It is a classic Cabo Verdean dish – essentially just papaya in spiced syrup. I get two very big, almost ripe papayas thinking that it will be enough for thirty people but in the end they fill one jar so everyone gets two pieces of the delicacy. And a delicacy it is – papaya boiled in sugar and cinnamon sticks with spices and then stored in a jar. When we serve the dessert, we add Grogue Velha, authentic sugarcane juice rum from Cape Verde, aged just over a year. It is from the village of Tarrafal, on Santo Antão (one of the ten islands). A big hit!

Arid islands of tourism

The islands that form Cabo Verde were discovered by the Portuguese in 1462, and while in most cases of colonialism ‘discovery’ is a completely misleading word, in this case it is the correct one. No one lived on the islands when the Portuguese came and decided to take them. The fun part stops there, as Cabo Verde became a haven for slave trade; the embarkation for the global slave trade and the place of the first slave market of West Africa. As Cabo Verde’s climate is dry and the soil is arid, slavery was economically very important to the islands. When slavery was abolished selectively in 1857 (after a slave uprising in 1853 with a sad ending of suppression through violence) and entirely in 1878, Cabo Verde was hit with an economic crisis and many inhabitants fought to immigrate away. Drought, famine and escaping colonial rule made Cabo Verdeans the first people of the African Diaspora to voluntarily immigrate, in almost all the cases moving to the United States. Nowadays, there are more people of Cabo Verdean origin living overseas than in Cabo Verde itself. 

Independence arrived in 1975 after years of discontent with the Portuguese rule. The Cabo Verdean path to independence was closely linked with the process in Guinea-Bissau, but national relationships became strained after the 1980 coup in Guinea-Bissau (presently the two countries are buddies again). The first president Aristides Pereira (in power 1975-91) could be described as an authoritarian ruler or a dictator, but he has been said to be quite calm and moderate, albeit the one-party system in Cabo Verde that existed until 1990. Since then, the presidents have come from one of the two main parties. Today Cabo Verde is a democratically stable country with growing tourism. 

The people of Cabo Verde are descendants of Portuguese settlers, Africans and European travellers. The biggest island is Santiago, home to half of the country’s population and the capital city Praia. The official language of Cabo Verde is Portuguese but most people speak Cabo Verdean Creole which is a recognised national language. 

Happy news is that from 2024, Cabo Verde is officially a malaria-free country. 

BOOKS: Unstable women and awful men

As I read six books for Canada, I am very aware that I cannot keep up that amount for the following countries. But as I have also learned, one book is not enough to represent a whole country so for Cabo Verde – with its very rich literary tradition – I decide to read three. It is hard to choose from a variety of books but again, I will be guided by recommendations, and choose three that seem to bring very different angles to the Cabo Verdean story. The stories told by Germaino, Dina and Shauna are all very different. And, as I find out, some I like much more than others.

My first book is by Germaino Almeida (1989) called The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araujo. There is a movie made of the book which I watch after I have read it – but I did not watch with an easy heart. I basically wanted to see how a rape scene in the book (implying that she really wanted and was ok with it) is handled in the movie, and whether a more contemporary (even if just ten years later) approach would go into more detail about how disturbing some parts of this books are. This is a short book (merely 159 pages) from the most celebrated author from Cabo Verde. It is a confusing book with really long sentences that are a messy diarrheal of words about a despicable man who chases after women and has sexual encounters that read like assaults. He dies and has a really long will in which he leaves everything to a child conceived through rape. This book has been selected as one of the ‘100 best books from Africa‘ (for example by the Zimbabwe International Book Fair and the African Studies Centre of the University of Leiden, among others)’ as the only entry for Cabo Verde, but the troublesome elements are never questioned. I read some reviews of the book to see what the brilliance I missed is. While several reviewers have hailed the style and the story, a few women have been as uncomfortable as I was, one saying that the concept of Senhor da Silva Araujo raping his cleaner and her being ok with it felt like a patriarchal fantasy. This is one of my least favourites of the Virtual Nomad literature journey. The best part? It’s short. 

My second book is by Dina Salústio called Madwoman of Serrano (1998). Dina is the first female author to have a book published in Cabo Verde and also the first to be translated into English. She has worked as a teacher, social assistant and journalist in several Portuguese speaking countries. The story is about an isolated village and its people – the village goes for centuries without a name and then, due to specific circumstances, is dubbed Serrano. The people are peculiar and the ways of the village are quirky – there is a midwife who does not only deliver babies but initiates the village’s young men into life’s carnal pleasures (part of the job), a madwoman who incarnates every 33 years, a young woman without a memory who falls from the sky and a young mechanic who falls in love with her and a daughter of the village removed as a child now living a dull life in the city. The book belongs to the magical realism genre which makes it simultaneously fascinating and also somewhat difficult to follow, with some funny and quirky imaginaries, but overall not a cohesive enough narrative. Don’t get me wrong, it is a nice read with interesting plot lines that do not quite come together, but there is something funny and energetic about the book, some character arcs are just more interesting while others drag and feel as if they were written in a rush. It is like a curvy, bumpy road – sometimes fun, sometimes nauseating but never solid. 

“It’s profoundly normal to become fragile while ordering coffee. The barista wants your money. The barista wants your name”… “When you get back to the party, make sure you know what you’re partying for.”
Shauna Barbosa was not born in Cabo Verde but in Boston in 1988. Shauna’s mother is American while her father comes from Cabo Verde. She teaches creative writing and is an awarded poet. Shauna’s poetry collection, Cape Verdean Blues, was published in 2018 to much acclaim. So I am back reading poetry which is not my favourite genre, as personally, poems need to be really dashing for me to fully appreciate them. This said, I enjoyed this collection more than I thought I would. It is modern poetic storytelling – the poems in this collection are like passing thoughts and reflections on self-reflections and understanding of  womanhood, nostalgia and the undefined sense of longing. It is also to some extent about growing up between two cultures, which of course is almost becoming a norm (as I watch my children grow up between three cultures and native languages), and the sense of placelessness that comes easier to some than to others. This said, I feel the collection is more about being a young contemporary black woman and navigating relationships and the dating scene rather than about an immigration experience.

Movies: Immigrants in different shapes, that Senhor da Silva man and one of the greatest child actor performances ever 

Cabo Verde does not produce a high number of movies so the selection naturally cannot be very wide. 

Ilheu de Contenda (The Island of Contenda, 1995) by Leão Lopes is the first ever feature-length fiction film from Cabo Verde. Not only is it directed by a Cabo Verdean director, it also received financial support from the now defunct Instituto Cabo-Verdiano de Cinema. Leão himself is also a plastic artist, academic and politician. He was Minister of Culture and Communication (1991-2000) and is a professor of the University Institute of Arts, Technology and Culture that he founded. He also leads a cultural NGO that specialises in cultural training and local development. 

The movie describes the times of change in Cabo Verde in 1964. The discontentment with the Portuguese rule is starting to diminish and the society is changing, and the quest for power between landowners and mulattos emerges. It is an interesting movie but feels older than it is. 

One cosy Saturday night of the southern spring, JK and I watch a gorgeous small movie: àma Gloria (2023) by Marie Amachoukeli. It is a solo debut from Marie that currently has (October 2024) a 100% standing in the movie site Rotten Tomatoes (her first movie Party Girl, 2014, was co-directed and won the Camera d’Or award in Cannes). àma Gloria has one of the best child actor performances we have ever seen from a completely mesmerising and throughout real six-year-old Louise Mauroy-Panzani. Her outstanding performance is the soul and heart of the movie, and so open and honest to the point that it would feel like a documentary if it was not for the dream sequences that carry the story. She is a first-time actor as is the other main character, equally effective Ilça Moreno Zego. It is a wonderful, sensitive, intimate and emotional movie about love, loss, jealousy, family and longing. It is a profoundly small but rich story about a world of motherless children and mothers who need to leave their children to take care of other people’s children. “I have no memories before you” says a six-year-old French girl Cléo (who lost her mother to cancer) to her Cabo Verdean nanny Gloria who had to leave her own children in Cabo Verde to provide them a better life. Gloria’s mother dies and she has to return to her children who do not know her and leave Cléo who she has raised. Cléo comes to visit and they both have to adjust to a new reality. The movie is such a discovery, and so deep, multilayered and captivating. 

Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican? A Cape Verdean American Story (2006) by Claire Andrade Watkins is a feature-length documentary about Cabo Verdean immigration to the United States, especially to Province, Rhode Island.  Claire, herself a descendant of Cabo Verdean immigrants, had planned the documentary for over twenty years. The documentary looks not only into her childhood but into the experiences, traditions, art and music of the Cabo Verdean community in the Foxpoint area with a prominent Cabo Verdean immigrant community, and then the displacement of the area due to gentrification and urban development leading everyone “to go their own way”. Claire’s grandmother was one of the immigrants, arriving in Rhode Island on a boat called Savóia in the early years of the 21^st century. The community was very tight, keeping to itself and taking jobs no one else wanted. Several people who came to the US as children from Cabo Verde tell their story and their recollections of the community, most specifically the life in Foxpoint in the waterfront. It is a fascinating documentary that tells the story of a community through memories about gatherings, children playing together, dance, music, food, a club for boys to keep them off the streets, etc. It is also a story about relentless racism in a society where the only job for an educated ‘coloured’ girl was to be an elevator operator. It is also a generational story in which the newer generations start to break through to better opportunities. A great documentary that also dedicates much time to a dish called Mantxup (munchupa), also called Katxupa (cachupa).

JK and I really want to watch Omi Nobu by Carlos Yuri Ceuninck (2023) about a man who has lived forty years in an abandoned village, Ribeira Funda. When everyone else left, he decided to stay. Currently it is not available on any platform or other forms that I have access to so this section will be updated one day – when we have access to what looks like a superb documentary. 

Ok – why am I doing this to myself? I strongly disliked the book this movie is based on. O Testamento do Senhor Napumoceno (The Will of Senhor Napumoceno) is a 1997 movie from Cabo Verde based on the book by Germaino Almeida (read for this stop). It is directed by Francisco Manso. What makes me watch it? Well, it is said to have a 20-minute performance by the great Cesaria Evora. In the end the performance is very short and the rest of the movie, well, I would dislike it as much as the book, but what saves it a little bit is the visuals of Cabo Verde and interesting stage production. But the movie itself – the plot, the clearly intended overacting and the disturbing age differences between the main actor and some of his leading ladies– it really is not for me. 

Cesaria Évora

And finally, to the grand wonderful Cesaria and her melancholic music. The music and dance genre Morna is considered the national music of Cabo Verde. Slow, gentle and harmonic, Morna was proclaimed part of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2019. Cesaria is the most famous of the Morna singers, known for smoking and drinking on stage and singing barefoot. She was born into poverty and did not find success until later in life after several hardships. Cabo Verdean Morna is often associated with her. 

When I saw her in concert, she was clearly uncomfortable with the public’s attention, but then when she sang, eyes closed and barefoot, she elevated the music beyond brilliance. Her voice was even better live than recorded, and she had a remarkable, impactful presence. I have seen a lot of live music in my life but she was in a league of her own. My absolute favourite of all her songs is Sodade but I know that fan favourites are also Miss Perfumado and Petit Pays (L’s favourite!). 

Next stop: Central African Republic 

Thank you L for the proof reading!

I have been asked a lot about how to subscribe to Virtual Nomad – you can find the subscription button in ‘comments’ before each entry 🙂

Warning warning – this is going to be another very loooong stop!

Oh Canada! It is the second biggest country in the world. It takes a few turns and three people to colour Canada on the world map in the kitchen. Some of the people in our party have lived in Canada and we have a good Canadian friend who lives two streets from us so it is a very exciting entry. Still, I am surprised at how little we know about Canada – and how the general feeling is that Canada is doing much better in so many ways compared to its southern neighbour. But there are dark spots in its history as well; Canada, as so many others, has not been at its brightest regarding its treatment of First Nations people. 

But one thing is certain- natural beauty!. Canada has a majestic landscape, varied and vast, displayed in its ten provinces and three territories. Just see any footage of the magnificent Yukon and its breathtaking elegance or of Alert, the northernmost settlement with continuous (year-round) population, or the huge waves outside the coast of Newfoundland. 

But first, as always. Food. 

The festive, joyful Canada Night

After decorating the house with numerous Canadian flags and filling the air with a Spotify playlist tailored especially for this occasion, the Canada Night gathers so far the biggest Virtual Nomad crowd. There are 22 people around the table with seven newbies at their very first Virtual Nomad theme night. The menu has been designed by our Canadian friend CL who has also overseen the selection of the most successful Canadian artists for the playlist. It is a night with maple syrup and Dion, Mitchell, Bieber, the Weekend, Twain and the likes. For the youngest of the Virtual Nomads, it is their favourite night yet, and it truly is a very successful, lively and joyful evening.

The people gathered around the food, music, fire pit, warm sauna and the ice bath, including some of the core Virtual Nomads, apart from myself: my partner JK, my children L (17) and A (11), L’s boyfriend NA (18), my stepchild FK (15) and seasoned Nomads AK, DK and their adult children AK and MK (all on their 11^th Virtual Nomad stop), dear friends KD, KD (15) and JD (their 6^th Virtual Nomad), L* and her daughter S* (3^rd stop) and newbies, all great old friends: our resident Canadian friend CL, partner JJ and kids EL (10) and SL (14) as well as a fellow European CB and her children JB (11) and EB (8).  No need to remember everyone as it is a big group. 

The food is amazing and everyone brings a plate or two. All eyes are on CL, our Canadian friend and food authority for the night, when we ask how well everyone did. Really well, it turns out. 

The iconic and most recognisable Canadian dish is Poutine – chips (French fries) topped with cheese curd and gravy. Poutine originated in the 1950s in Quebec, and became a symbol of Québécois culture and has since become a national dish. There are even annual Poutine celebrations around the country. Poutine is basically a layered dish – on the bottom French fries, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, topped with cheese curd – in most cases this is cheddar or mozzarella. The cheese forms a melted blanket for the chips once the gravy is poured on top. In 2007, a poll by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation placed Poutine as the 10^th greatest Canadian invention and in 2017 it was selected as the favourite Canadian food (ahead of maple syrup). There are different variations of Poutine. For our Canadian night, we have two forms of Poutine. AK prepares the traditional Beef Poutine with savoury beef gravy and JK prepares a vegetarian version with vegetable gravy. Both get an approval from CL and are very successfully consumed in record time, particularly by the youngsters! 

The most elegant and certainly very well received dish of our Canadian night is the Tourtière meat pie prepared by L*. She is a very experienced cook and this is her third Virtual Nomad stop (after Burundi and Cameroon). It is a classic Christmas Eve dish for French Canadians and traditionally eaten after the midnight mass. It is made with a “flaky crust” filled with meat (usually pork or beef) and mixed with spices, and sometimes vegetables. L*’s Tourtière is exquisite and looks (and tastes!) very elegant. 

JD, KD and KD (15) bring smoked salmon. Canada is one of the largest producers of salmon in the world and exports salmon in large quantities. Historically, salmon has been an important food source for First Nations people and many coastline communities still depend on salmon fishing, some using traditional methods of catching salmon when it travels upstream. Smoked salmon is an important culinary part of the wide Canadian kitchen, particularly in regions such as British Colombia. JD is particularly good at preparing smoked salmon and meat, so the dish is stunningly tasty. 

CB, a wonderful European newbie with her delightful daughters JB and EB brings a Caesar salad. It is not originally Canadian but according to our resident Canadian CL, it deserves to be on the menu as it is very popular in Canada. CB creates an excellent salad in situ and just like that we have another stellar cook in our Virtual Nomad community! 

I bring stuffed peppers (or capsicums as we call them in Australia). I have made them for some other Virtual Nomad stops so I feel like a pro. These are vegetarian peppers, filled with tofu, vegetables, spices and cheese. I have chosen small capsicums which makes them easier to eat. They might not aesthetically look exactly as they should but taste heavenly ☺. I also prepare corn cobs in the oven which is the easiest recipe ever – corn cobs showered in butter and then heated in the oven. JK prepared Bannock, a traditional bread with Indigenous roots – made by various First Nations and Métis communities for generations. It is a baked or fried bread that mixes Indigenous cooking with colonial influences. 

As for our resident Canadian CL and his family, they prepare what is often considered Canada’s national drink, the Caesar. It is a super unique cocktail made with vodka and Clamato (tomato and clam juice together), hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and served with lime, a celery stick, greens and bacon. It was invented in Calgary in 1969 and the proud inventor was a bartender called Walter Chell who wanted to create an Italian type of cocktail but à la Canadienne. It is considered more than a cocktail and served in a jar with salt around the glass. It has the strangest but most fascinating taste that cannot easily be forgotten. 

CL and company also prepare Nanaimo bars, a typical, very rich three layer dessert – a crumbly base, a creamy custard-filled middle layer and chocolate on top. CL’s partner, our dear friend JJ, is an incredible cook and her bars are almost better than the original, says CL. Nanaimo bars come from a place called – Nanaimo! – on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, first documented in the 1950s and becoming a well-loved, no-bake dessert  often associated with Canadian cuisine. They are very rich and the big Virtual Nomad crowds, especially the young ones, loooove them (L (17) proofreader here: I can confirm I am still dreaming about JJ’s delicious, heavenly bars, but know if I tried to recreate them I would set all 3 layers on fire somehow – cooking is a meticulous craft!). The other dessert, butter tarts, are prepared by FK (15) and they are also marvelous and received very well. And, of course, a Canadian Night would not be complete without pancakes and maple syrup. 

Canada on a maple leaf 

Canada is huge. It has vast landscapes and it embraces three oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic. Canada has the longest international border in the world with its only neighbour. Canada has ten provinces and three territories. 

The name Canada actually comes from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, meaning a village or settlement. 

According to the 2021 Census, there are about 1.8 million Indigenous people in Canada, forming roughly 5% of the whole population. Before the arrival of the Europeans, unsurprisingly there were many more First Nations settlements around the continent including the Inuit in the Arctic and Haudenosaunee in the East. The first Europeans arrived around the year 1000 AD (the Vikings) but European colonisation did not really start until 1497 when John Cabot (born Giovanni Caboto) sailed to the shores. But it was the Brits and the French again that quarrelled over the dominance of Canadian land, both allying with rival Indigenous communities. Jacques Cartier claimed the land for France in 1534. The French established Quebec as the capital in the 17^th century, but then the Brits wanted their share of the maple pie and the Seven Years’ War resulted in British control over Canada. In 1867, The British North America Act put several provinces together. Canada gained self-governance (within the British Empire) in 1931 but full legislative independence waited until 1982 when Canada obtained the right to amend its own constitution. 

Canada has a complicated past (and present) regarding the treatment of First Nations and Inuit people. The 1876 Indian Act established the assimilation policy that resulted in some terrible repercussions such as the Canadian Indian Residential System. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (yes, the father of Justin) launched the Multiculturalism Policy in 1971 that attracted millions of immigrants. Other divisions have also marked Canadian history. The referendum for independence of the French speaking Quebec was held in 1995, losing narrowly (75% of the population of Quebec speaks French). The capital of Canada is Ottawa. 

The Virtual Nomad reading record: Six books from Canada 

My resident Canadian friend CL designed the menu and chose the artists for the Canadian night with great success, but he is not sure what books and movies to recommend, therefore I turn to my other delightful Canadian friend AA who gladly takes on the task. AA works in connection with Canadian culture so she is well suited for this. Canadian literature of course has a massive scope so to come up with only a few recommendations is quite a feat. In the end, she recommends ten different authors and I end up reading a whopping six books. As six is already a large number of books, I leave out very interesting books and hope one day to be able to return to them.

Without doubt, Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood are the great dames of Canadian literature. Margaret’s The Handmaid’s tale is globally influential and probably one of the most famous, if not the most famous, Canadian book. I have already read it years ago so AA recommends that I read one of Margaret’s early books “to get a sense of how she blew literature apart from the very start of her career”. I decide to read The Circle Game, a collection of poems. I am not usually big on poetry and probably would have not read this collection if it was not for AA’s recommendation. The poems talk about duality and perceptions – relationships, images of the world, the dichotomy between the adult world and childhood, emotional isolation, going around in circles. I end up enjoying quite a lot – not surprisingly Margaret’s writing is sublime and I enjoy some of the poems immensely, and some less – as tends to happen with poetry. “So now you trace me like a country’s boundary or a strange new wrinkle in your own well known skin”. 

The Break (2016) by Katherena Verette was a bestseller in Canada and won several awards – and boy, are all those so well deserved. Katherena is a Michif (Red River Métis) writer from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is also an Indigenous rights activist and her plight for equality for Indigenous peoples in Canada shines through her writing. She grew up in a socially challenged, high crime area of North Winnipeg, and when she was 14, her 18 year-old brother Donovan disappeared. Donovan’s case was not widely published or commented on, and Katharena has been very outspoken about the lack of media attention and slow investigation due to Donovan being an Indigenous man.  

As for the book itself, her debut, it is hard to put it down and I basically read the 352 pages in one go. It is a riveting, outstanding, captivating, haunting book. A story about a young Métis woman witnessing a nightly assault of a young girl grows not only into a powerful family saga but also reflects the systematic and structural violence against Indigenous women. When I read Imbolo’s second book for the Cameroon stop, at the beginning I expected it to be the standout that this book turns out to be. The different voices carrying the story are complex yet rich in their struggles and trials. The pages contain a very real and heart wrenching yet mesmerising story telling. Later I found out that it is the first of a trilogy, and now I know I need to read the other two as they follow the story of some of the characters. I will not do it now as I need to move on along the Virtual Nomad path but definitely will when the opportunity arises. But yes, this book truly is a masterpiece. 

Whatever I read next unfortunately must come after this beautiful book, such a hard act to follow.  

Ru (2009) by Kim Thúy is a book that I have long been wanting to read. It tells the story of a young Vietnamese refugee who with her family escapes the communist rule by boat. She arrives in Montreal with her family via a refugee camp in Malaysia. The book mirrors the story of the author, but is not strictly autobiographical, written in an almost stream of consciousness or conversational style (in which someone rambles endlessly and all you do is listen). It is built in the form of a collection of memories from a wealthy family in Vietnam, then as ‘boat people’ facing the perils of a dangerous journey and later building a new life in Montreal. The word ‘ru’ has different connotations, meaning a ‘lullaby’ in Vietnamese and ‘stream/flow’ in French, both concepts of which are mixed in the book. The book jumps back and forth in time describing life in many different phases: the war in Vietnam, the escape on a boat, the travel to Canada, life as an adult and the return to Vietnam. What seems most emphasised are the life events before Canada and then the full meaning of love that the main character finally understands when she becomes a mother. It is an interesting yet not fascinating novel; a nice yet not an engaging read. It is for sure well written yet feels unfinished – for me Ru unfortunately does not fully deliver the way some other stories of immigration that I have read for Virtual Nomad have. 

I am very grateful for AA for her list because the literature journey I take brings me right around the vast country. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (1998) by Wayne Johnston takes me straight to Newfoundland, and the book is as much, or more, about Newfoundland than it is about the people in the story. The book is a fictionalised life story of the real Joey Smallwood, a politician who rose from poverty to become the first Premier of Newfoundland. He is credited with bringing Newfoundland to the Confederation of Canada. What I read about him (outside the book) is that he remains a controversial figure who brought infrastructure and social benefits to Newfoundland (roads, education reform), but stayed in power for longer than needed and dealt with his opponents and the press with a hard hand. 

The book is long (500+ pages) and while the historical and political side of it is quite interesting (based on real events), the cat and mouse play with a fictional childhood friend, intellectual rival and potential love interest Fielding, is less so. Fielding is a quirky character for sure and is given much more storyline than Smallwood’s real wife and children but her story (and its big revelations) feel predictable. But the descriptions of the history of Newfoundland and Smallwood’s travels, profession and rise to power are quite interesting. I probably would have benefitted from having more background on the history of Newfoundland so I might have completely missed some of the nuances that make this book so important for many Canadians. 

Thomson Highway is a Cree man from northern Manitoba and a Canadian Residential school survivor, author, musician, playwright, and social worker. In 2000, Thomson was named one of the 100 most important people in Canadian history. Residential schools (see also a documentary about the subject in the next section) were places where more than 150,000 Indigenous children were placed when removed from their families to be ‘assimilated’ into non-Indigenous Canadian society through religious indoctrination, harsh conditions, prohibition of native languages, and in many cases violence and sexual abuse. 

Kiss of the Fur Queen (2008) is about two brothers who live through a Residential school and the aftermath of their experiences. Less time is dedicated to the horrors of the school itself than to their life after. When the brothers step into the real world, they find themselves not belonging to anything or anyone, not their magical Cree world nor the modern society that alienates them as individuals. The Fur Queen watches over them and the storyline jumps from one reality to another. Sometimes hard to follow, the book covers a lot of trauma territory, with people finding themselves in a place of social solitude. An interesting read, with skilful writing, albeit confusing at times. 

I finish the long Canadian literature stop with the memoir Run Towards the Danger (2022) by Sarah Polley. I’ve been a great fan of Sarah’s work – including her movies Stories We Tell and Women Talking (and I watch yet another title later!) as well as her acting in several films, my favourite being The Secret Life of Words. However, no, I have not seen Road to Avonlea which made her famous as a child actress. This book is a collection of six essays about traumatic watershed moments in her life including themes such as stage fright, sexual assault, high risk pregnancy, scoliosis, losing her mother, a concussion and her complicated relationship with fame and child stardom. She writes with an astonishing openness. I find confessional, semi auto-biographies sometimes uncomfortable and while I nearly wept while reading some of the essays, it is the first of the six that I struggle most with – not only for the strange affection that Sarah’s father seems to feel for his child, but also for the circumstances around Sarah’s stage fright (at a very tender age, must be noted) and the impact on other people. I consider abandoning the book after the first essay but luckily I do not since the book grows from there. One thing becomes certain: child stardom sucks. 

The books from AA’s list of recommendations that I leave for a future occasion are Son of a Trickster (2017) by Eden Robinson, In the Skin of the Lion (1987) by Michael Ondaatje, Fifteen Dogs (2015) by André Alexis and the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny. 

It must be said that my childhood dream was to visit Prince Edward’s Island due to Anne of Green Gables. And that a book I love is I heard the Owl Call My Name (1967) by Margaret Craven. 

The Canadian Movie Festival

Not surprisingly, Canada has a thriving, rich and abundant film industry. As with other film rich countries, the Canadian Movie Festival will include ten movies / documentaries / tv series. My Canadian friend AA approves of our list, and then it is time for the ten viewing experiences – which, in the end, ends up being more than ten. 

It’s Sarah again! Sarah Polley is a Canadian filmmaker and actress who started her career as a child actress and then grew to enjoy directing and writing more. A few months ago, JK and I watched Sarah’s masterful documentary Stories We Tell (2012). What to say about it without revealing too much? That it is a nuanced, skilful personal story that opens layer by layer like an onion. The basic storyline is that Sarah learns that who she thought was her biological father is not, so she starts a personal journey that goes through surprising emotional landscapes and grows much bigger than one person. It is enthralling and deep, moving and brilliant. Stories We Tell is about memory, losing and gaining, family, and belonging. It is, basically, about the stories we tell to ourselves and others. 

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) by Zachariak Kunuk is the first ever movie filmed in Inuktitut. It is based on an old Inuit legend that has been passed down through generations as oral tradition. It has been selected by several filmmaker polls as one of the greatest Canadian movies ever made. It is a fascinating movie that at first is a bit difficult to follow, therefore the understanding of what is happening and who is who does not come until a bit later down the track. Even that is ok as this is an Inuit story made fully by Inuit filmmakers and actors, with no need to adjust the storytelling. Once the spectator understands what is going on, it opens an incredibly detailed and interesting glimpse to the ancient life and customs of the Inuit, and their survival in extreme conditions. The story is mixed with spiritual magic, rivalry and a hero’s journey. Atanarjuat marries two women that prompts the rage and jealousy of his rival, the son of the leader of the tribe who obtained his leadership in a questionable manner. It is visually stunning, and what a feat it must have been to film in a land of snow and ice! Much screen time is given to rituals, songs and preparation of food, but it also gives a glimpse into the organisation of the community and its lifestyle. Zachariak himself was born in Nunavut (the northernmost, largest territory in Canada), which is self-governed by the Inuit. It is an extraordinary, albeit very long film. 

The Oka Crisis in 1990 was a 78-day-long land dispute between the Mohawk Indigenous nation and the city of Oka regarding the building of a golf course and apartments on top of their sacred burial sites. Oka is a town situated south of Montreal in Quebec. Kanehsatake: 270 years of resistance by Alanis Obomsavin is a fascinating documentary of a landmark moment in Canadian Indigenous history. Alanis, an Abanaki woman herself, spent those 78 days with the protesters, and had unique access to the Mohawk warriors defending the land. She shows the mistreatment of the Mohawk by the army and the common press: according to the Canadian Film Board, the other press’ coverage of the conflict was from a “biased Western perspective”. Alanis’ documentary helped to show the press-diminished Mohawk perspective, and her presence as a film-maker and bystander probably helped ease the tensions and avoid further violence. The documentary shows how the conflict started to attract international attention and how other First Nations people expressed their solidarity with the Mohawk situation, and is considered a landmark documentary for its portrayal of Indigenous people. One of the activists on site was 14-year-old Waneek Horn-Miller who was stabbed close to the heart (while protecting her 4-year-old sister) by an army officer. She nearly died but recovered and became an Olympic athlete. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgYtF32ml5Q) 

Another movie that frequently tops the lists of best Canadian cinema is Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) by Claude Jutra. Many countries have their quintessential movies that form part of the national idiosyncrasy and are important for the collective memory, and this movie seems to be that for Canada. It has topped three out of four times the Toronto Film Festival list of the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time – a list compiled every ten years since 1984. In the latest list (2015), it was second only to Atanarjuat. It is a coming-of-age movie describing life in a 1940s mining town in rural Quebec. Mon Oncle Antoine was directed by the very controversial Claude Jutra who died at 56 due to early-onset Alzheimer’s, and thirty years after his death, allegations arose indicating he was a paedophile targeting young boys. It is difficult to take these allegations lightly when watching the movie. Nevertheless, I can see why the movie is considered a classic; it’s nostalgic, portraying a conservative landscape of a world at the verge of change. While I would not put it on my ‘best of’ lists, I still enjoyed it and I do understand that films have a different importance to different people, for different reasons. 

The Canadian Residential School system was a chain of boarding schools for Indigenous children that existed for more than a hundred years. More than 150,000 children were removed from their families to attend these schools in order for the Canadian government and Christian churches to assimilate them into Canadian society and forget their ‘savageness’; their own culture and language. The conditions in most of these institutions were extremely harsh and cruel, and approximately anything between 2,300 and 30,000 children died while under religious care. Disease, hunger and sexual abuse was rampant and many of the survivors came out deeply scarred. We Were Children (Tim Wolochatiuk, 2012) is a shocking, dramatised documentary following the story of two survivors, Lyna Hart and Glen Anaquod. Your heart explodes from sadness when you see a big-eyed 4-year old Lyna ripped from her family and placed in state care, and then raped by a priest. About his experience, Glen says: “I don’t know what kind of God they have that loves to hurt others.” 

Not everyone is the system was completely evil, however the majority were still accomplices to a discriminating, abusive system. The last school closed in 1996 (the one Glen had attended) and an official apology by the government was delivered in 2008. 

In December 1989, a gunman walked into the École Polytechnique of the University of Montreal targeting female students. He killed fourteen women, and injured ten more women and four men. His motives were widely reported to be anti-feminist and based on misogynist terrorism. Acclaimed filmmaker Denis Villaneuve decided to make a fictionalised recount of the events, changing the names of the victims. Filmed in black and white and with very little dialogue, it plays like a normal winter day turned into a catastrophic, violent nightmare. The story is filmed primarily from two different perspectives, or three, but the third is the one that should not be named. The filmmakers consulted the family members of the victims and made the film with the intention to respect and honour the victims. It is a gripping watch that haunts you afterwards. I have read some of the rave reviews and several analyses, and I understand that the filmmakers were portraying the shooter as an emotionless monster, but I still feel that the movie does not achieve to celebrate the lives of the fourteen women killed and subsequent injured and life-long traumatised individuals. While I can understand that the movie has a certain value, I struggle with the idea that in twenty years I would be watching a film of the April 2024 Bondi Junction shopping mall massacre. 

The next movie is again quite different, this time another from the ever so amazing Sarah Polley. Away From Her (2006) is based on a short story by Alice Munro, telling about a wife’s Alzheimer’s disease and the sacrifices her husband goes through. It reminds me of Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) that I watched for the Austria entry, but this movie is much gentler. It is a melancholic, outstanding movie about love and loss, remorse, sacrifice and devotion. The acting is top notch and the movie itself is directed in a beautiful, gentle way that breathes like real life. I have seen several movies about Alzheimer’s disease and for me, this is probably the best one. It is not sensational– it is understanding, it is real, it is gentle, and it is forgiving. 

The Sweet Hereafter (1997) by Atom Egoyan is about every parent’s worst nightmare, and is therefore a difficult watch. It again has Sarah Polley in it. The story is about a community grieving when several families lose children in a school bus accident. The movie became a critical and commercial success in Canada, which is quite a feat considering its subject matter. The movie jumps between different timelines and has a strong focus on the different characters (rather than presenting events in a chronological order). The movie is set in a mountain town in British Columbia. The acting is generally very good, and again Sarah Polley demonstrates the strength of her craft. While about a village/town, it is above all about loneliness – and maybe greed. It is an interesting, yet difficult watch especially hitting hard as a parent. 

Incendies (2010) by Denis Villeneuve is… quite a movie. It has been hailed as a masterpiece but also criticised for being messy, implausible and disturbing, and to some extent for its orientalism (even if based on a play by Waidi Mouawad). I do not quite know what or how to think about it but it is impactful for sure, and quite shocking. I struggle to find the words to describe how I feel and quite frankly cannot say whether I liked or disliked it. It is again better not to reveal too much of the plot but it is mainly a story about the twin children of an Arab Canadian woman who learn about the secrets of their mother. One thing was certain, I could not stop watching it even if some of the cultural caricatures bothered me to a certain extent. But what did I think about it? I am still quite not sure, even in my review! 

Taken (2016) is a three-season 39-episode series (currently preparing the fourth and final season) on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada. Violence against Indigenous women in Canada is disproportionately high to the extent that it has been called a national crises. In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set up a national Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Every episode of the series looks into a separate case. While my intention is to watch the whole series, for this stop I watch the first twelve episodes (series one). 

In 2014, the disappearance and death of a 15-year-old Indigenous girl Tina Fontaine drew national attention to the issues of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Her story is covered in the first episode, and it was her story that finally highlighted the violence against Indigenous women and the epidemic number of Indigenous women that had gone missing or found dead. 

The second episode tells of the Highway of Tears – a 700-kilometre-long Highway 16 in British Columbia famous for the murders and disappearances of primarily Indigenous women. The conservative estimates say there have been around 18 murders of Indigenous women related to the highway, whereas the locals say the number is much higher. According to Amnesty International Canada, the disappearances and murders are part of a broader systematic problem of violence against Indigenous people in Canada. Along the Highway of Tears, poverty and lack of safe transportation in a landscape of long distances add to the unsafe conditions for Indigenous women and girls. There are several documentaries exclusively about the Highway of Tears, many of them available on various platforms. 

The Funny Canada Mini Film Festival 

There they are, the ten Canadian movies and tv series, all watched. But then my Canadian friend AA rightfully reminds me that while the list of ten movies from Canada is amazing, there are very few comedies on the list. She says that Canadians are funny – and my selection of movies, although many covering critically important subject matter, is quite sombre. I absolutely agree with AA and after a string of movies of dark topics, I follow her lead to incorporate a couple of comedies in the mix. AA provides me with the “23 funniest Canadian movies” list by the Globe and Mail (2023) and I choose three that are available to watch and then I also rewatch another ‘comedy’, one of the most famous Canadian movies which in fact, really is not a comedy after all. 

La grande séduction (2003) by Jean-François Pouliot is a cute little film about a village that needs a doctor in order to have the employment opportunities the village desperately needs. Once they get one, they decide to make him love the village so much that he decides to stay. The plot is not exceptionally original and the ‘fish out of water’ stories have been achieved in many forms, but it is a nice, light, lovely, feel-good watch. I watch it with my son A (11) and it does get a large bunch of good laughs out of us. It is a feel-good movie and definitely has a lot of charm – and it is a welcome change after dark and deep themes. It is a great watch with kids despite that the very first scene of the movie implies the whole village having sex – but it is done in a way that prompts a little bit of giggling from my preteen. We both really enjoyed the film. 

The F Word (2013) by Michael Dowse is available under the title What If as the original title was too risky for the US market (insert a ‘rolling of eyes’ emoji). It is a hilarious, witty and well written rom-com that I fully enjoyed. While the main story is a bit boring, the main characters aren’t that interesting (although Daniel Radcliffe does a pretty good job) and the whole woman/man cannot be friends trope is always an infuriating claim, it is the collection of colourful side characters that make it truly enjoyable. That is– all the side characters are delicious and steal the scene one after the other – you can just tell the absolute blast the actors had in bringing these characters to life. It also has a sensationally good Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davis in supporting roles. 

Starbuck (2011) by Ken Scott is a comedy about a sort of douchey man who has fathered 533 children through a sperm bank. He is chaotic, lazy and unreliable, but of course lovable and learns a lesson in the end. The movie is sentimental and predictable but quite sweet. While it is cheesy and stereotypical, I actually found myself liking it much more than I expected, or wanted :). There are, however, things that I do not understand – why would the kids refer to their families as ‘adoptive families’ if they were conceived through IVF? Why did they need to find their sperm donor so badly as if they did not have loving families and as if they were abandoned? 

Jesus of Montreal (1989) by Denys Arcand is constantly selected as one of the Best Canadian films. I watched it years ago and found it boring, so I return to watch it now as a full-fledged adult to see if it will impress me more. It is described to be a comedy… but is not very funny. The film plays with the idea of what would happen if Jesus lived in modern times. A group of actors is hired to do a modernised play of Jesus which is then loved by the public but hated by the church (who paid for it). Slowly, the main actor’s life starts to resemble the life of Jesus. While I understand that this is a fascinating idea, the film requires a solid degree of knowledge on Christian theology which I do not have so I am unable to appreciate the nuances of the film. I understand that there is irony and there is criticism, and I think maybe for the right audience it is a revelation.  Denys is the director of another highly acclaimed Canadian film, the Barbarian Invasions (2003) that I also saw years ago and it was another movie that left me unmoved – while it won numerous awards and people find it great. Maybe Denys just is not the director for me. 

So that’s it, dark and light movies from Canada. There are still a few Canadian comedies to see but it is definitely time to move on. 

Music

The most streamed song on Spotify with more than 4 billion (nearly 5) is by a Canadian musician called the Weeknd and the song is a very catchy one that everyone knows….

Our Canadian Night Spotify list consists of the most successful Canadian musicians (and some personal favourites of the group) and five of their most streamed songs. Too many songs to mention but we played the top five most streamed songs (in August 2024) from Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Loreena McKennitt, Shania Twain, Rush, the Band, the Weeknd, Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion, Carly Rae Jepsen, Anril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Mendes, Buffy Saint-Marie, Bryan Adams, Nelly Furtado, Alessia Cara, Drake, k.d.Lang, Michael Buble, Justin Bieber, The Tragically Hip, Barenaked Ladies, Ryan Gosling – the list can be found on Spotify under “Canada Night Music” (note from L (17) – I didn’t know that most of these artists were Canadian! Virtual Nomad is informative in more ways than one :p). 

What was my favourite song? I cannot tell – just that there was something for everyone ☺

Thank you wonderful Canadian friends CL and AA for making this stop a delicious, interesting and content rich stop 

Thank you L (17) for your proof reading!

Next stop: Cabo Verde

And we are back in Mama Africa which is not surprising as a big portion of the world’s sovereign states are in Africa. For some ‘the world of sport’ people in our group, Cameroon rings a bell due to several football players (proofreader note: I would put ‘soccer’ here, but mother turns around and says “Football is football! the one in America is eggball!”)  who play in different European leagues, the most famous being Samuel Eto’o. Even I know who that is. Unfortunately, we have heard he has been in the news lately for other things than football. 

Cameroon is also a divided country with over 250 different languages and a vibrant music sector. It is often called ‘Little Africa’ because of its wide cultural and linguistic diversity. Cameroon has high literacy levels but also rampant corruption. Currently Cameroon is facing several challenges: half a million people have been displaced in the Far North Cameroon due to the security situation, instability in the Northwest and Southwest of the country have made another 500,000 people flee their homes, more than 350,000 Central African Republic refugees have fled the insecurity in CAR to end up in Cameroon. Thousands of schools have closed, which means many children are lacking education. Since 2017, violent clashes between the French speaking and English speaking parts of the country have widened the divide between the two, as the government has been seen to favour the French speaking population over the Anglophone one. 

But first, as always. Food.

The Cameroon night 

The Cameroon night gathers the same crowd as the Burundi night, fifteen Virtual Nomads around the table: my partner JK, my daughter L (17) and her boyfriend NA (very recently 18), my stepchild FK (15) and CH, the Special Advisor to Virtual Nomad (who has been to around 140 countries and counting). Also in attendance are seasoned Virtual nomads AK, DK and their adult children AK and MK. And then we have my old friend L* and her daughter S* (my daughter L’s first friend in Australia when we moved from Europe) as well as my good friend SA, her husband JJ and her son JJ2 (15). My son A (11) is away and will miss the Cameroon night. We gather around a table of food from Cameroon and good chats about school, work, life and food. 

The main dish is Ndolé, prepared by JK. Ndolé is considered to be Cameroon’s national dish, especially among the Bantu-speaking communities and prepared on special occasions (such as a Virtual Nomad night!). According to the traditional recipe, Ndolé is made from cocoyam leaves (but we use spinach) and cooked with peanuts and usually meat (or fish), said to combine the bitter taste of leaves with the rich flavour of peanuts and meat to create a perfect balance. It is a festive dish with strong nutritious value, said to symbolise hospitality and respect for guests. The dish is passed down through generations and a Cameroon night would be incomplete without it. Our Ngolé is very well received – the meat-eating Virtual Nomads hail its creamy texture and wonderfully blended flavours. It is definitely a hit.  

Another huge hit (L’s favourite!) is the Cameroonian Brochettes, prepared by AK. Brochettes are a common part of Cameroonian cuisine and are basically grilled meat skewers with spices. The seasoning of brochettes depends on the region. In Cameroon, brochettes are also sold by street vendors and small-scale food sellers – which not only provides income but also makes brochettes relatively inexpensive and accessible for the general population. AK’s brochettes are very well received, and present Virtual Nomads comment on the texture, the tenderness of the meat and the lovely blend of spices. Overall, the brochettes bring the party together as they are said to bring friends and families together over a meal in Cameroon. 

Another plate that AK prepares is Sangah (also known as sanga in some parts of Cameroon). It is a stew made with corn/maize, palm nut juice and cassava leaf. As cassava leaves are not available in Sydney at the moment, AK substitutes with spinach. Sangah is a traditional dish which is very popular in south-western Cameroon (especially among the Bakweri and the Bafaw people). It is a thick stew formed from  cassava/spinach leaves which are mashed and cooked together with the other ingredients.. 

The last dish is Ekwang, prepared by newbies SA and the JJs. It is a dish traditionally prepared with beans and corn, sometimes with grated cocoyams, palm oil and spices. It is a traditional dish popular especially among the Bakweri and other coastal communities. In Cameroon, Ekwang is prepared as a communal activity between women and cooked with local ingredients. Our Ekwang is prepared as a side dish for the more meaty options and it provides a lovely balance to the more marked flavours. 

FK (15) prepares the dessert called beignets. Basically they are deep-fried donuts made of dough with sugar and vanilla (L had about 7 and then felt a bit ill). They are delicious and puffy.

Multicultural mosaic, a divided nation

There have been different civilisations living in Cameroon since the times unknown. The Bantu people, Sao people, then the Kotoko – and then the Portuguese unceremoniously arrived in 1472 but malaria outbreaks mostly kept the Europeans away. During the Portuguese presence, Cameroon was a key place for slave trade.The name Cameroon actually comes from Portuguese, meaning the River of Prawns (Rio dos Camarões). Sometimes in the 19^th century, the Fulani people populated northern Cameroon. Then Europeans were again in a colonising mood. After being taken over by the Germans in 1884, as Germany was unsuccessful in the 1st World War, Cameroon was divided between France (4/5) and Britain (1/5), both with their own piece of the pie. Independence was achieved in 1960 and 1961 respectively for both parts (after a rebellion for an independent, united Cameroon in 1955 that claimed thousands of lives). 

The first President from 1960 to 1982 was Ahmadou Ahidjo, and the President since has been Paul Biya, who is largely considered to be an authoritarian ruler and has the dishonour of being frequently featured on the “worst dictators” lists. He has constantly been accused of human rights violations, especially when it comes to the freedom of expression generally and for the press. There are speculations around details of his private life, including impregnating the sister of his first wife Jeanne-Irene and the unclear circumstances of her death. He and his family’s personal, recreational use of national assets has been widely documented. His daughter, Branda, came out as lesbian in July 2024 (Cameroon has strong anti-LGBT laws). 

In 2016, Anglophone teachers, lawyers and other professionals commenced a peaceful strike intended to raise awareness of the issues with the “francophonisation” of the Cameroon government, education and legal systems. The protests spread with more people joining the movement to request reforms. The government response, however,  was harsh, with widespread arrests and violence. By 2017, the protests had transformed into an armed conflict between the Anglophone separatists and government groups. The conflict has resulted in nearly a million internally displaced refugees,severe violence and human rights violations against the general population. 

In addition, since 2015, Cameroon has jointly with its neighbouring countries been fighting against Boko Haram, the jihadist group terrorising the region. 

Four books from Cameroon: the narrow place for women 

My first book is by Imbolo Mbue, a Cameroon-born author living in New York. She has become a literary sensation in recent years, especially due to her debut book about immigration. She was born in Cameroon and moved to the US to pursue further studies. I have been recommended two of her books and the local library has both of them. I take this as a sign ☺ and decide to start with How Beautiful We Were (2021).

When I start reading the book, I can understand why Imbolo is a sensation. The writing is delicious. I am amazed at how engaging this book is with its astute, riveting storytelling full of nuance and clever imaginary landscape. At first, I am raving about it as I cannot put it down. “Five stars out of five”, I say to L (17) who loves to read. I tell her that this is a must read– an astonishing book about environmental destruction, poisoned soil and a fight for land and justice by an African village against an American oil company. Clever, exceptional, incredibly strong start. Unfortunately, at some point of the story, it loses its sharpness. The writing is still very good but the story starts dragging. The book is just too long,losing its fine freshness and becoming tiring in its multiple storytelling angles. The end climax is less impactful than it should be in a book of this calibre. I devoured the first two hundred pages but I struggle especially through the last fifty (it’s 364 pages) – and it is such a disappointment. What I thought would be another standout in the Virtual Nomad literature travel proves to just fail that margin. It is still a good book, not just as exquisite as it sets out to be. 

Even if Imbolo’s second book was not as good as I expected at the beginning, I decide to read her debut book which is considered her masterpiece. The multi award-winning Behold the Dreamers (2016) is about an illegal Cameroonian immigrant family in New York and the white family they work for. I have a different experience than with How beautiful we were. At first, while the writing is good, it is not nearly as rich as the first book:  more straightforward without the deliciousness of the storytelling but the plot is interesting. I am initially not very engaged, but towards the end I begin to really appreciate the novel, completely the opposite reaction than with Imbolo’s other book. When I read it and look back, the story is masterful, especially the second half of the book. It does not capture me emotionally very strongly but I command the treatment of immigration, race and class from an effective angle. 

After the two books from Imbolo, I move to something different. Bearing witness: Poems from a Land in Turmoil is a collection of more than one hundred poems from 73 poets. The anthology starts with an overview of the Ambazonian conflict, also called the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. The poems reflect a wide spectrum of themes related to the conflict, varying from displacement to loss and trauma – yet above all, death. The editors, Joyce Ashuntantang and Dibussi Tande are both scholars and writers. One of Dibusse’s poems When the Phone Rings says: “When the phone rings from Ground Zero, Our hearts skip a bat as we brace for bad news: Manyaka has not been heard, He left for school yesterday, His phone has gone silent, His parents are inconsolable” and “Little Asheri is in a coma, She was struck by a stray bullet, watching cartoons in the living room, No one knows if it was an Amba bullet, or a La Republique bullet. It was just a bullet.” It is an amazing anthology about terrible news – a young man killed because he wore dreadlocks and a bandana; a woman fleeing from the conflict on a boat, then losing her twins when the boat capsizes; an old woman not making it out of the village in time when it was burned down; senseless violence and the suffering of the people caught between. The poem One Grave, Thirteen Bodies is about a man who has to bury his whole family, and The Blood Festival tells about the constant killing, to whomever the bullets belong to. In another poem, a childhood friend burns down his friend’s house and kills his family. More than a hundred poems of violent death, sometimes for no apparent reason at all. 

My final book from Cameroon is Les Impatientes (2017) by Djaïli Amadou Amal. Djaïli is a Fulani feminist activist who founded the organisation ‘Femmes du Sahel’ dedicated to promoting their education and development of ‘women in Sahel’ and to end violence against women. Djaïli is from Sahel, and was married to a polygamist household through an arranged marriage at age 17 . She has been called the voice of the voiceless due to giving light to the stories of powerless women in narrow, discriminating circumstances. The Impatients won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens.

It is quite a remarkable book about forced/arranged marriage. It is shocking, devastating and profoundly disturbing, which makes it outstanding. Two sisters (of different mothers who are co-wives to one man) are arranged to marry, and while one had aspirations to study and have a career, she, as well as her sister, are considered property and condemned to a life of servitude, basically slavery, within four walls. Vessels without free will and completely at the mercy of their owners/husbands. When a husband rapes his young bride during the wedding night so violently that she needs hospital care, it is considered normal and that the hubby was just a bit too much “in love” with his new bride. The girls, as their mothers before them, are reminded that their sole purpose in life is to obey their husbands. “Accept everything that your husband does. He is always correct; he has all the rights and we have all the duties. If the marriage succeeds, it will be because of our obedience, our good character, our willingness to compromise; if it fails, it will be our fault alone, the consequence of our bad behaviour, our detestable character, our lack of restraint.” 

Cinema: four movies on the bad things people do to each other

Cameroon might not be as known for its movie industry as neighbouring Nigeria  or some other countries in the region are (looking at you, Burkina Faso), however, there are surprisingly a number of Cameroonian movies available on different platforms. Netflix has acquired several movies from Cameroon, especially from the Anglophone part. My intent is to see whether I get a hold of cinema from both Anglophone and Francophone Cameroon. 

My first movie from Cameroon is Nganù (2023), the directorial debut by actor Kang Quintus. It is a movie about domestic violence, abuse and childhood trauma. The main character Nganù – played by Kang himself – is a useless, hot-headed, pothead farmer who beats his wife and is aggressive towards others, including his only son. He has learned his ways from his violent father and does not try to change, until one day the change comes to him. There is an interesting intent of redemption and regret of a violent monster. While the movie does not even try to make him likable, there is a deep message about the effects that action (violence) has on others. Kang, the director, says that the story is based on real events, and he wanted to make a movie that tackles the issue of domestic violence that is a reality in so many households – he refers to Africa but we all know that it is a worldwide problem that really affects hundreds of millions. The violence shown is graphic and unforgiving. Therefore, even if the movie has some storytelling flaws, it is still to be appreciated as it makes no excuses for abuse, and culminates in a predictable but effective “what have I done?” moment.

Another movie that Kang has been involved with, as a producer and an actor, is the Fisherman’s Diary (2020, by Enah Johnscott). Kang really needs to be hailed for his involvement with important issues and not being afraid of playing the most reactionary, awful characters to raise awareness on important issues. He did that with domestic violence in the previous movie I watched – and now in this movie about girls’ education where he plays a father that opposes (to the extreme) his daughter’s wish to learn and study. It is a moving and very long movie filmed in Cameroonian Pidgin English. There are fairy tale elements to it, but mostly it is a movie about poverty, lack of choice and opportunities and the archaic role of women in the community. It revolves around the message of Malala Yousafzai about the girls’ right to education. Skilful acting by all actors (especially Kang and the young actress Faith Fidel) and a mostly compelling (albeit a bit uneven) story with effective and broad use of music from Cameroonian musicians. 

Homosexuality is considered a crime in Cameroon with substantive jail time. The documentary Born This Way (Shaun Kadlec & Deb Tullmann, 2014) is a superb film  showing several Cameroonian young people facing discrimination, threat, violence and criminal prosecution for their sexual orientation. It is an intimate portrait describing some of the absolutely horrific things they face or have been through, but also about finding a safe place and a community of support. I watched the documentary with L (17), who found it touching, and deeply appreciated moments of light, such as a lesbian daughter being accepted by her foster mother, amongst the dark reality of queer persecution in Cameroon. Deep and moving, it also features the important work done by Lawyer and Human Rights Activist Alice Nkom and how she tirelessly works for the rights of the LGBT community in Cameroon. While the documentary is ten years old, the situation is far from better. The Human Rights Watch (2022) reports several violent attacks against members of the LGBT community in Cameroon that generally go unpunished. The senselessness of homophobia is also referred to in the documentary, as someone compares a consensual LGBT relationship to paedophilia, showing the archaic homophobic mindset held by many. 

As my last film from Cameroon, I watch the devastating and impactful documentary The Spectre of Boko Haram (2023) by Cyrielle Raingou. It is about childhood in the northern part of Cameroon under the armed conflict between the national army and the jihadist group Boko Haram. Founded in the early 2002s, Boko Haram is “known for its violent insurgency aimed at establishing an Islamic state, characterized by attacks on civilians, military personnel, and government facilities. The group’s activities have resulted in thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions.” Boko Haram is known for the extreme violence in the region and repeated kidnappings, such as the 2014 kidnapping of 276 Christian schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria (more than one hundred are still missing today). While making the documentary, Cyrielle was encouraged to change the title, but she resisted and wanted to tell a story of three children, one girl and two parentless-boys and their struggle to maintain a sense of normalcy. There is no overlay commentary and the documentary is basically an observation of the daily life of these children. 

Soothing sounds of Cameroon

Cameroon is quite famous for the music scene, especially for artists such as Richard Bona and Manu Dibango. Richard plays a fusion of jazz and African sounds. He sings in his native Duala. Manu Dibango was a renowned jazz saxophonist. 

While listening to Cameroonian music, we discover a lovely singer called Belvia Abinwi with a velvet voice. 

Next stop: Canada

Thank you L for the proofreading

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We are officially in a new group of countries, the group of countries under a new letter, C. It brings much excitement to the group. 

After a desolate stop on an island where no one lives nor has ever lived permanently and fresh from the horrors of the Burundi wars, we proceed to another beautiful country with another genocide. Cambodia: country of the fascinating Angkor Wat, the mighty Khmer Empire, silk weaving, and one of the most brutal genocides that wiped out 1-3 million people (approximately 25% of the population) under the eyes of the world. 

Enter Cambodia. 

But first, as always. Food.

Cambodia in Cabramatta

I am lucky to have a dear friend in Sydney L* who is of Cambodian origin, so we can delegate the task of Cambodian food to her. She consults her network and comes up with a suggestion of three different Cambodian restaurants in Cabramatta, Western Sydney. 

Cabramatta in southwest Sydney is a suburb that since the 1980s has had a significant Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian origin population, including Cambodians. It is known for the rich food scene, numerous small restaurants, and many markets. The area has been through some social challenges in the past, but nowadays it is home to a vibrant cultural scene with a strong community feel and interesting food. L (17) thinks that the best place to get sugar cane juice is Cabramatta. 

So on a bright winter’s afternoon our party heads to Cabramatta. We find our way to one of the three suggested Cambodian restaurants, Battambang. Battambang gets its name from the country’s third largest city in Cambodia’s northwest. Battambang (the restaurant) is the highest rated of the recommended restaurants. Promising to serve authentic Cambodian food, it sounds like a good choice for our party. Moderately furnished, there are condiments on every table which include different chillies, pickles and vinegar.

When we arrive in the restaurant, the waitress tells us that the Fish Lemongrass Soup, known in Cambodia as Samlor Machu Trey, is the most traditional dish on the menu. Unfortunately no one in our party wants to taste it but we can see it well welcomed at other tables. It is usually served hot with rice. The ingredients are most commonly fish, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, tomatoes, tamarind paste, fish sauce, vegetables, herbs and chillies. There are several variations of the soup. Samlor machu is a Khmer language concept that generally refers to sour soups. Samlor Machu is not as well-known as other Southeast Asian soups, especially Pho and Laksa. Samlor Machu refers to a category of soups so the one offered by this restaurant is just one type and there are several others, such as Samlor Machu Youn (with chicken) or Samlor Machy Shrae. 

One of the dishes our party has is the Battambang Crispy Chicken with Garlic Fried Rice. We hear that this is a very popular dish in Cambodia. Our dish is not only served with garlic rice but also a soup with chicken. Technically speaking it is not a traditional dish in Cambodia but represents a blend of Cambodian touch with global influences. It is a dish of Thai and Vietnamese influence adapted well in Cambodia where fried and grilled meats are popular. According to our sources, it is a typical middle-class dish. Our party agrees that while it is tasty, it is not a thrilling dish. 

Another dish is Stir Fried Soft Noodle with Gravy, Num Banh Chok. It is a traditional rice noodle dish with stir-fried noodles and a fish-based gravy. As Cambodia has a vibrant street food culture, we learn that this dish is commonly served by street vendors. There are several variations depending on the available ingredients but it would typically have green vegetables and meat – as it is the case for our party. Again, this dish is similar to the cuisine of neighbouring countries where variations can be found. It is an affordable dish in Cambodia which adds to its popularity. Our party thought that the dish served was a bit bland but edible enough to fill the tummy.

Another variation is the Stir Fried Soft Noodle with prawns. Again, an ‘ok’ dish according to our party but not memorable or super tasty.  

Another dish ordered was Crispy Pork Intestine with Garlic Fried Rice, known as Kuy Teav Sach Ko in Cambodia. The way to prepare the intestines is that they are seasoned and fried until crispy, often served with sauce or rice. Our dish came with tomato and cucumber, and the same soup as the crispy chicken. In Cambodia, using pork intestines is a standard resourceful cooking practice. All parts of the animal are used in order to not waste resources. Those in our party that taste this find it quite delicious – crispy and savoury. Another of our party’s dishes is Crispy chicken with Fried Rice which is very similar to this dish but with chicken. 

The most appreciated part of our Cambodian lunch, at least according to our members in the 11-18 age group, are the drinks. Our party enjoys hot milk tea, fresh orange juice with condensed milk and ice, ice coffee with condensed milk and red lemon tea. For the older generation, these options are a bit too sweet, so we indulge in the warm jasmine tea offered with the food. 

And finally, as Cambodian cuisine does not cater particularly well for vegetarians, I choose to have a Cambodian Pad Thai. While not as traditional as in Thailand, it is still a very popular dish in Cambodia with some distinctive local twists. While the Cambodian Pad Thai is stir-fried the same way as its Thai counterpart, it has a slightly different flavour. It is less sweet and more savoury which is said to cater to the Cambodian palate. My palate is not sharp enough to detect a difference between the Cambodian and Thai pad thai, and the dish is passable and definitely edible but not memorable.

The dark shadow of a genocide 

The Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire (802 – 1431) was one of the most powerful in South East Asia. With amazing architecture and probably the world’s first health care system (including 105 hospitals), it was also a society where women enjoyed certain rights and freedoms (although they were married young). King Suryavarman built the mighty Angkor Wat and Jayavarman VII the impressive Buddhist temple Bayon. The Khmer Empire slowly disintegrated during the centuries that followed and the majestic temples were swallowed up by the jungle. In 1863, Cambodia became part of French Indochina as a French protectorate. Japan invaded in WW2 and in 1953 the country became independent.

But its troubles were far from over and something terrible was to come. The King at the time of independence was the relatively popular  Norodom Sihanouk who opposed the US bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War. He was ousted in a coup and a US-backed ruler Lon Nol opened the opportunity for the US to bomb rural Cambodia (as part of its war in Vietnam), which has been referred to as the largest bombing campaign in history. The relentless bombing of rural villages (causing approximately 150,000 deaths) encouraged rural peasants to join the communist Khmer Rouge  during the Cambodian Civil War (1968-1975). When the Khmer Rouge won the war they established a state of terror under the leadership of one of the most ruthless dictators in history, Pol Pot. Pol Pot, a European educated Marxist, wanted to create an agrarian society without any Western influences or religions. The result was a genocide of approximately 25% of all Cambodians (70-80% of all working age men) through forced labour, starvation, torture, organised killings and executions. Around two million people perished during the four years – first any educated people from doctors to artists, and then the killing continued, basically ‘just because’. 

The young Virtual Nomads are shocked to hear that. It is not taught at school.  

Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1975 and stayed for over ten years, until 1992. Pol Pot hid in the jungle and was the UN-recognised leader, even if the world knew what had happened during his regime. The Khmer Rouge came to an end sometime in the late 1990s, and the UN withdrew its mission to govern Cambodia (1992-1993) in 1993. In 1997, Hun Sen led a coup and became one of the longest ‘serving’ heads of states in power (as Prime Minister from 1985) until 2003. His regime was accused of human rights violations, persecution of political opponents and doing very little to limit the rampant sex trafficking that affects many rural women and children. The current Prime Minister is Hun Manet, Hun Sen’s son. This was quite easy as his father banned opposition parties in 2018, making Cambodia a one-party state. 

Putting women last 

Cambodia is a country that has traditionally had very clear and restricted gender roles. Part of this tradition is the Chbab Srey morale law for women, which has generated debate in recent years. It is an unwritten law, a tradition that is passed from mothers to daughters. The word ‘chbab’ refers to ‘code’ and ‘srey’ means ‘female’. The code dictates how women should behave and conduct themselves, especially towards their husbands and male family members. Obedience, modesty, submission, humility and honour (virginity) are the virtues of feminine conduct that enforce traditional roles where women are seen inferior to men and their responsibility is essentially towards the family. For example, an old Cambodian tradition is that male members of the family are served the meal first. 

Four books from Cambodia: children of the genocide 

The first book for Cambodia is one I read in 2016 but, as it is a deeply moving book about astonishing resilience, I want to mention it here. Never Fall Down is written by Patricia McCormick and is the life story of Arn Chorn-Pond. For the book, Patricia interviewed Arn but also met his family members and other survivors from the time. The book describes how Arn survived the killing of his artist family, the starvation and forced labour camps, watching the killings while playing the flute, becoming a child soldier, escaping to Thailand by himself and finding a new life in the US that was far from easy. After difficult times, he became a human rights activist who won many awards and travelled the world with celebrities including Bruce Springsteen and Sting. He is the founder of the Children of War organisation and several other organisations. He has won many awards but his true calling is revitalising the arts and culture of Cambodia. He returned to Cambodia to do this. 

I have had the privilege to meet Arn a few times and he is an impressive, compassionate human. His story is deeply moving and inspiring, and I highly recommend this book. 

My next book is probably one of the most famous books regarding the Cambodian genocide, First they killed my father: A daughter of Cambodia by Loung Ung (2000). Made even more famous by the movie directed by Angeline Jolie (which I watched after reading the book), it is another story of the Cambodian genocide from a child’s perspective. It is a highly celebrated book as it was one of the first to bring attention to the terror practiced by the Khmer Rouge. It is a personal story and, from what I have understood from some critics (including Cambodian scholars), it should not be taken as a historical account but rather as a personal story of one family and the atrocities they went through. I decide to read it from this perspective – as a story rather than an accurate autobiography. 

Loung was five at the time so relying on memory alone would be insufficient. She does acknowledge that she has received assistance from her surviving family members, especially her brother. However, it would not be fair to underestimate the impact of trauma of this magnitude on a child. She was the sixth child of a high-ranking government official who fled the capital in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took over the country. Her childhood is then transformed from a privileged life into one of starvation, terror, forced labour, famine and constant surveillance, with a complete lack of personal freedom. It is a highly impactful book and whether or not its details are completely accurate, it still gives a full picture of the period and a personal crossroads. For aforementioned reasons, it does not hit me as strongly as Arn’s book but that does not detract from it. There are a few insignificant details that bothered me. One is the title that refers to her father, which diminishes recognition of the family member who was the first to perish. The relates to the father himself who is described as superhuman more than a man with human qualities. 

Another famous book about living under the Khmer Rouge regime is In the Shadow of the Banyan Tree (2013) by Vaddey Ratner. Even though Vaddey is a survivor of the genocide, she was five at the time and does not rely on the accuracy of her memories. Therefore, she decided to write it as fiction but the book is based on her own experience as a descendant of a royal family line in Cambodia. The tone of the book is more poetic than Luong’s. It is skilfully written and includes similar events to the other books and movies I’ve encountered at this VN stop. While it is beautifully narrated, the rhythm of the book is slightly uneven. The beginning has a slow, poetic rhythm and a lot of time is dedicated to storytelling ‒ conversations between a daughter and a father and descriptions of spirituality and tradition. The latter part of the book feels rushed with time going faster almost as if the narrator was tired of telling the story and wanted it to end. While it is an accomplished and beautifully written book, it is the least compelling of the three for me. 

I was considering reading another childhood memoir of life under the Khmer Rouge ‒ When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge (Chanrithy Him, 2000) ‒ but I also want to read something about life right after the regime ended. What happened to the survivors, how was life rebuilt from zero? During the stop in Burundi, I found a book that described life after the war, so I try to find one about the period after the Khmer Rouge regime. I end up choosing another memoir by Luong (First they killed my father) ‒ Lucky Child: a Daughter of Cambodia reunites with the sister she left behind ‒ about her and her sister’s life after 1980. It is a story of two completely different lives and alternates between the two sisters telling their story. While Luong’s story of her new life in the U.S. is undoubtedly interesting, I find her sister Chou’s story more compelling. Chous is the sister who was left behind, the sister who did not have the same opportunities, the sister who never complains and is grateful for what she has. She is the sister who lives through poverty and Khmer Rouge raids, who experienced an arranged marriage and was separated from her siblings. Hers is the story that shines through in this book, conveying what it was like to be left behind and stay in Cambodia after some of her siblings left. 

The Cambodian Film Festival

Cambodia does not have an extensive movie industry but after talking to knowledgeable people, I find out that there are quite a few movies and documentaries to watch. As with many other countries, it is incredibly hard to choose what to watch so I/we end up watching eight films; five on the Khmer Rouge era and three with more contemporary settings. 

The Killing Fields (1984) by Roland Joffé is a British production and was an instant global hit when released. It is still on several ‘best films’ lists. It is still probably the most famous movie made about Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. I have seen it years ago but I return to watch it again. The movie is based on the real-life experience of an American and a Cambodian journalist, Sydney Schanberg and Dith Pran. They stay behind when the Khmer Rouge takes over with one of them being able to leave the country while the other is condemned to a labour camp. The movie won numerous awards around the world and opened the world’s eyes to the genocide of around 25% of the Cambodian population. The term ‘killing fields’ originates from Dith Pran. After four years of terror he was reunited with his family and with Sydney. He worked as a photojournalist for the New York Times until his death in 2008.  

The Cambodian lead chosen for the movie Haing S. Ngor was a non-professional actor who himself had lived through four years of terror at work camps. His astonishing, honest portrayal in the movie rightfully brought him many awards, including an Oscar for best supporting actor. Haing, an obstetrician by training, was unable to help his pregnant wife when they were in a Khmer Rouge labour camp in order not to expose them both. This wife then died in childbirth. Haing would find several ways to honour his wife through his work, despite being unable to return to his profession in the US. He was murdered in 1996 in what the authorities say was a botched robbery, but there are some who suggest the murder was politically charged. 

S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003) is a documentary by a Cambodian documentary director Rithy Panh whose whole family perished during the four years of the Khmer Rouge regime. It is an extraordinary documentary about human cruelty. It is almost mandatory viewing but with a warning that it is good to take breaks in between. There is no word to describe how chilling and devastating it is. It is focused on Tuol Sleng, a high school that was converted into an extermination prison, S21. Over 20,000 people were imprisoned there and only seven survived. This documentary brings together two of the survivors with their former captors who re-enact some of the duties that they had while working there, sometimes very bluntly describing the atrocities they committed. It is not a documentary about reconciliation, forgiveness or even remorse. 

The guards knew that everyone who enter the gate was condemned to die but was kept alive for torture and mindless interrogation. One guard remembers a young woman he interrogated for days (and had feelings for, which was prohibited). When she did not confess anything for four or five days, he asked his superiors for some help. When he finally got her to speak, he gave her three targets (to say whom she worked for): the CIA, KGB and the Vietnamese Enemy. The woman chose the CIA. 

The guards re-enact the events with astonishing stoicism. Most of them joined the Khmer Rouge as teenagers after the US bombings. They see themselves as victims of an indoctrination machine. Atrocities are stated as facts, without emotion except in rare cases. For example when someone says he is embarrassed for killing children or raping their mothers. It is an effective documentary without voiceover narration or history lessons. There aer no morality tales. The stories from both sides speak the truth. It is powerful, devastating, chilling, desolating, and heartbreaking. The documentary is available on Youtube. [August 2024]

Even if Virtual Nomad is not about individual travel experiences, I feel it is important to mention that the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is one of the most impactful and harrowing places I (and JK) have ever visited. There are no words to describe the experience.

“They had been instructed not to touch the enemy. I was the enemy. I was thirteen.”

Another of Rithy Panh’s documentaries, the Missing Picture (2003) won a top award in Cannes (in the Un Certain Regard category) and was nominated for several awards (including the Oscar for Best Foreign Film). It is a personal story of Rithy Panh and his experience of loss. The documentary is astonishing, deep and moving storytelling that combines real documentary footage from the Khmer Rouge era with clay figurines that bring the story to life in an outstandingly effective way. The clay figurines are used to recreate an intimate and personal approach to the story, and come to life to reflect the famine, suffering, mass atrocities, loss and unbearable human suffering. The clay figurines stand in for the ‘missing picture’ – the absence and destruction of film footage and evidence from the Khmer Rouge regime and brutal rule. It is also a story of a stolen childhood and overwhelming evidence of loss. Rithy’s voiceover is devastating in its emotional depth. It conveys the loss of humanity and the loss of loved ones. It is an incredibly powerful film that is equally or more compelling than his other documentary. 

The documentary Enemies of the people (2009) by Thet Sambath and Rob Lemkin is an exceptional, outstanding and chilling portrayal of Khmer Rouge killers. Thet is a Cambodian journalist who lost his parents and his whole family during the Khmer Rouge era. He spent ten years together with a former top Khmer Rouge official and lower ranking people (ordered to kill) in order to understand why so many people needed to be killed. He managed to get access to the ‘Number 2 Brother’ – the ideologist and Pol Pot’s closest man, Nuon Chea, before his arrest, and spent ten years interviewing him. He also spent time with several peasants who killed hundreds if not thousands of people in Southwestern Cambodia. The result is honest and raw, exceptional journalism. The journalist is an absent father who spends his savings and time travelling to meet these people to finally find peace. The interviews with the Khmer Rouge officials are few but astonishing. One of them says that for what he has done, he will never be reborn as a human again in another life. 

First they killed my father (2017) by Angelina Jolie (yes, the famous one) is a dramatisation of Loung Ung’s book that I have read for this stop. It is not a stellar cinematographic achievement but it is good enough. Rhythmically uneven, with sometimes an overuse of long symbolic shots, it is saved by the latter part of the movie and the cinematographic presence of its young star. It was, of course, easy for me to follow as I had read the book and the movie is fairly faithful to it. It would have benefitted from a tighter pace and stronger editing. It has stunning cinematography and beautiful landscapes. In places, it presents a bit more like poetry than bering a truly effective movie. After all the other documentaries from Cambodia, it does not convey the same raw injustice and feels a bit more like a bad dream. I would not call it a bad movie, it is beautifully shot and works in some parts really well – but I would not call it an excellent movie either. 

For more contemporary themes, the documentary Cambodia: Virginity Trade (2010) by Matthew Watson is difficult viewing. It looks into the importance of (female) virginity in Cambodian culture and the human trafficking around it. The documentary contains interviews of young girls, politicians and NGOs, but also men who buy ‘the virginity’ of underage girls. The buyers include westerners but the largest market is Cambodian men who believe that having sex with a virgin girl will bring them good health, luck and keep them safe from AIDS. “Many people say I look young. I think I stay young because I have sex with young virgins,” says one buyer. Poverty and archaic cultural norms drive girls to prostitution, and they are not safe even from their own mothers who sell their daughters’ virginity to highest bidder. After that, the future looks bleak for the girls (as they are no longer desirable for the marriage market) and many end up in sex work. The documentary states that 32% of the sex workers in Phnom Penh are raped daily.  

It is an effective documentary. Some of the criticism it has received is the exploitative approach to the girls themselves and the sensationalist nature. There is always a concern about the privacy of the interviewed people, especially if they are victims of human trafficking. There are several other documentaries on the subject including Cambodia’s Daughters (2017), The Cambodian Room (2016, produced by the Global Fund for Women) and Cambodia’s Hidden Sex trade (2012). In 2007, Rithy Panh made a documentary Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers about prostitution in Cambodia. None of these other documentaries specifically deal with the virginity trade which is a prevalent aspect of Cambodian culture. An old Khmer proverb “men are like gold but woman are like cloth” refers to the cultural norm which implies that gold stays strong and shiny even if tarnished and bent but if a cloth gets ‘dirty’, it will never be clean. The virginity trade exposes especially young rural girls, as young as 12 or 13, to exploitation. Cambodia has laws against human trafficking but enforcement is weak and police corruption rampant – not to mention the harm caused by the female moral conduct law, Chbab Srey. 

The last reel (2014) by Sotho Kulikar. Sotho is a seasoned producer and has worked on several foreign films filmed in Cambodia. The Last Reel is her first movie as a director. The movie is about memory, forgiveness and the magic of cinema. A rebellious young woman finds her way into an abandoned cinema and discovers a movie filmed before the Khmer Rouge destroyed the Cambodian film industry. She finds connections to her own life and to the secrets of people around her. She wants to break free from narrow gender roles. This is seen through several references such as the Khmer proverb of men being like gold and women like cloth and the Chbab Srey that a mother gives to her rebelling daughter. 

The movie itself is surprisingly interesting, and dedicated to the fallen stars and staff of Khmer cinema. While I was disappointed with the moral resolution for one of the characters (the girl’s father), in general the story was engaging and carries well. 

Jailbreak (2017) is a Cambodian action movie directed by Jimmy Henderson. It is a high-paced action movie with many choreographed fighting scenes. The movie achieved exceptional success in Cambodia. Most of the movie happens in a prison and a lot of the action is between three police officers who are protecting their key witness against an angry prison mob, while trying to save their own lives in the process. There is not much character development but the fight scenes are energetic and showcase ancient Cambodian martial arts – Bokator (derived from the words ‘bo’ – to pound, and ‘ator’ – a lion, generating the meaning ‘pounding a lion’).  Bokator, also known as Kun L’Bokator, is one of the oldest fighting systems in the world and recognised as UNESCO intangible heritage. Some parts of Bokator resemble dance, which in the movie gives it a highly choreographed feel. The plot itself is not very well developed and basically provides a setting for extended action scenes. 

Cambodian Living Arts 

Arn Chord-Pond founded Cambodian Living Arts in 1998. When he returned to Cambodia to try to find friends and family, he discovered that most of Cambodia’s artists had been killed and the remaining were living in poverty. He wanted to revitalise Cambodian cultural traditions and its arts scene. It is a wonderful, vibrant, interesting organisation that carries out very important work. More at https://www.cambodianlivingarts.org

Next stop: Cameroon

Thank you JK for proofreading

As we reach the end of the countries-that-begin-with-B for Virtual Nomad, we have time for one more B stop, the Bonus B. We decide to go for something that sounds exotic and one-of-a-kind. Bouvet Island comes to mind.

But–!

Bouvet Island is the world’s most remote island. It is in the middle of the South Sea (proofreading note: found in the region of Atlantic ocean beneath the equator), and claimed by Norway as Bouvetøya (despite being nearly 13000 km away). No one lives on this volcanic, sub antarctic region , and there are no signs that there has ever been permanent human settlement. Therefore, there is no film industry, nor literature, nor typical food. We (my son A (10) and myself) watch a documentary on Bouvet, and agree that we would not like to be stranded there.

Bouvet is most famous for a double flash that an American satellite registered in 1979. It is understood that the double flash was related to an undeclared nuclear test carried out by Israel and South Africa. 

Because our stop in Bouvet does not result in any culinary, literary, musical or other artistic experience (but regardless is very informative, yes), we cook some fish (the most probable island food) and decide to move on with the Virtual Nomad trip. We will soon enter a new, exciting list of countries, starting with the letter C. 

Next stop: Cambodia 

Proofreading by beautiful child L (17). Thank you ever so much. You are fantastic, wonderful, gorgeous, intelligent…

Burundi is a small country in Eastern Africa – it takes a considerable amount of time for some of the Virtual Nomads to place it. When the adult Nomads hear the words: the Hutu and the Tutsi, there is a moment of silence. For the younger Burundi sounds exotic, and maybe something they would have never heard of if it wasn’t for Virtual Nomad. 

In 2023, the GDP of Burundi was 3.1 billion which, in economic terms, makes the tiny Burundi the second poorest country in the world (still the same situation in September 2024). According to the United Nations Human Development Report 2023-24, (which takes into account more measures than just the GDP; including life expectancy,  years of schooling, Human Development Index values; effects of climate change), Burundi is the world’s 7^th poorest country. Hammered by a long civil war (1993-2005), Burundi continues to face significant socio-economic challenges. 

But first, as always – food.

No abundance of meat – the Burundi night

The Burundi night is again a big Virtual Nomad stop. We have fifteen Virtual Nomads around the table. Present are quite a few of core Virtual Nomads: my partner JK, my daughter L (17) and her boyfriend NA (very recently turned 18!), my stepchild FK (15) and Virtual Nomad’s Special Advisor CH (who has been to around 140 countries and counting). My son A (11) is away travelling in faraway places and will miss Burundi this time. Also in attendance are seasoned Virtual nomads AK, DK and their 2 adult children. And then we have five newbies to the group: my old friend L* and her daughter S* (who was my daughter L’s first friend in Australia after immigrating from Europe) as well as my good friend SA and her husband and son (15), the JJs.. It is a really crowded and lovely night of good food, reconnection, lively music and conversation. The main topics, apart from Burundi and its recent history, seem to be high school gossip (for the high schoolers), work (for adults), the alarming ibis (also called bin chicken) invasion in Northern Sydney and of course – the food tasting.

JK prepares the main dish, considered by some the national food, called Boko Boko Harees – a very simple dish with grain and chicken, and very little else. Consumption of meat is limitedt, so there are not too many other meat dishes in the Burundian cuisine. Approximately 80% of the Burundian population rely on subsistence agriculture which has led to significant food insecurity, more than in many other Sub-Saharan countries. Many Burundian dishes are vegetarian which makes Boko Boko Harees a dish served on special occasions. It originates from the Middle East and it is said that hundreds of years ago Arab settlers brought the dish with them. Boko Boko Harees is almost porridge- like and gets its yellow colour and flavour from turmeric. JK’S Boko Boko Harees is well received with present Virtual Nomads calling it simple but delicious. 

My brave friend L* who participates in her very first Virtual Nomad night, brings ‘Ugali’ . Although we usually give easy recipes to the newbies, this was not the case this time. Luckily L* is a very skilled cook and her Ugali has a wonderful texture, albeit a quite bland taste. It is similar to some other foods we have previously prepared for Virtual Nomad, such as Angolan ‘Funje’  and Botswanan ‘Pap’. It is a side-dish more than a main one and its bland taste is meant to accompany more substantial dishes which of course at times is difficult as Burundi has food shortage at times. Ugali is also considered a national dish, and it is basically a porridge made of cassava flour. 

I prepare a dish called Maharagwe – it is a vegetarian stew made of beans, potatoes and other vegetables. It is a popular dish in Burundi but also in other East African countries, especially neighbouring Tanzania. As meat is scarce, beans provide an alternative source of protein. Maharagwe is typically made from red kidney beans so I follow that. The receipt I am following uses potato, tomato, garlic,spices, and a little bit of coconut milk. Maharagwe is said to be a family meal which is often prepared together as a communal practice. To be fair, it is not the most exciting dish, so while the nutritional value is well recognised, the taste itself is not very thrilling. 

My other dish for the night is Isombe which is richer in taste than Maharagwe, and the secret to its success is peanut butter that brings body and substance to the otherwise rather bland dish. Isombe includes cassava leaves which are a common ingredient in Burundi due to nutritional value and easy availability. But in Sydney, I do not have access to cassava so I use spinach instead which, of course, is not the same but nutritional anyway. In Burundi, it is considered to be a dish reflecting the agricultural practices and most times is not consumed on its own but with side dishes such as Ugali, beans, plantains and meat, if available. The Isombe I prepared included spinach, eggplant, cabbage, tomatoes, coriander, spices and peanut butter. While Isombe is quite a simple dish, it was the clear favourite of the Burundi dishes with its creamy taste.

A divided country

What is known of the early history of Burundi is that it was first inhabited by the Twa people, who were Pygmy Peoples. Burundi was later populated first by the Hutu (around the year 1000) and the Tutsi (around the 16^th century) who then became the ruling class. In the 17^th century, the Kingdom of Burundi emerged with a Mwami (king) as the ruler. The bones of the hierarchical class structure included Tutsi on the top, Hutu beneath them and Twa as the lowest class. 

In 1890, Burundi together with Rwanda was claimed by Germany and became part of German East Africa. After World War I, the League of Nations played political monopoly and Burundi/Rwanda was transferred to Belgian control. Both Germany and Belgium favoured the Tutsi undermining the majoritarian Hutu population – which is said to be one of the seeds of tensions between the Tutsis and the Hutus. 

Independence was gained from Belgium in 1962 (and Burundi and Rwanda officially separated). Initially a monarchy, the coup led by Michel Cicombero transitioned Burundi into a republic country in 1966. But political instability, and conflicts between the Hutu and Tutsi never went away, and Burundi went through several periods of ethnic tensions and violence. The 1972 Tutsi-led genocide killed between 80,000 and 120,000 people (and resulted in mass immigration to neighbouring countries). A one party system followed which again favoured the Tutsi. A devastating, long civil war between Hutu and Tutsi from 1993 to 2005 – starting with a Hutu-led killing of Tutsis, resulting in over 300,000 deaths. When peace was finally achieved, Burundi’s population  still faced untrusting co-living, poor infrastructure, food insecurity – and its effects are still felt today. Burundi is also one of the countries with most displaced refugees (12^th in the world in 2022), struggles with rapid population growth, inflation, corruption, sanitation problems, prevalence of HIV, limited access to water, lack of broad electricity cover, human rights violations, and persecution of human rights activists, opposition members and LGBT people.  

Books from Burundi: the cycle of violence 

Petit pays (Small country) by Gaël Faye is based on Gaël’s own experience (although not strictly autobiographical). He was born in 1982 in Burundi to a Rwandan mother and French father. In 1995, during the Burundian Civil War (1993-2005), his family relocated to France. Apart from writing, Gaël is a songwriter and hip hop musician. His art is inspired by his Burundian childhood and Rwandan and French background, and his books and music often deal with issues related to cultural heritage, identity and displacement. In 2018, he received the Victoires de la Musique Award (for his music). 

When Petit Pays/Small country was published in France, it became a bestseller and won many awards. It is an astonishing book that shows how conflicts build up slowly, in how the first signs are seen in the trivial and mundane,  signs becoming more visible over time. 

It is of course not the first book written about a conflict from a child’s perspective (there are many) – but where other books can fall short, Petit pays  is really effective in its delivery. What begins as a sun-filled childhood as a privileged ‘white kid’ in Bujumbura (the economic capital of Burundi), with besties occasionally stealing neighbourhood mangoes and eating them in an abandoned combi, slowly moves into a demonstration of the corruptive and insane mindset of ethnic conflict. Story-wise, the writing is fantastic. At times, particularly in the beginning, I found that the story lingers in small, daily details, appearing to be a bit too descriptive – however, this is deliberate. The book describes life as we know it: moments that come and go, but then that lightness and hidden solace of banal life fades away as the conflict grows closer – and the quotidien, the ‘ordinary’ as we know it is gone forever. The narrative also tells about how for the privileged, the conflict does not really materialise until war is on their doorstep. The main character Gaby is really well written, struggling to make sense of the situation, struggling to stay neutral, struggling with the separation of his parents, struggling with the loss of innocence and childhood, simply embedded with complex, 3-dimensional struggle. When the year changes to 1993 near to start of the book, the reader of course knows what is coming but for Gaby it takes time. The civil war in Burundi, but also the genocide next door as he has family there, touch upon his life greatly. I read it and I wept. 

“For the most part, Mamie’s neighbours were Rwandars who had left their country to escape carnage, massacres, wars, pogroms, purges, destruction, fires, tsetse flies, pillaging, apartheid, rapes, murders, settling of scores and I don’t know what else. Like Maman and her family, they fled those problems only to encounter new ones in Burundi – poverty, exclusions, quotas, xenophobia, rejection, being made into scapegoats, depressions, homesickness and nostalgia. The problems of refugees.” 

“This poisonous lava, the thick flow of blood, was ready to rise to the surface once more.  We did it know if yet, but the hour of inferno had come, and the night was about to unleash its cackle of hyenas and wild dogs.” 

My second book from Burundi is by Marie-Thèrése Toyi, a Burundian academic and lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Burundi. She has also been a member of the Pan-African Parliament. She has written several novels, Weep Not, Refugee being the most famous one. It is a tough, tough book. It is about the life of the unwanted, the despised; refugees in camps living in brutal, inhumane conditions.

“A loud voice calls: “Start again. No architect should be discouraged by earthquakes shattering his work into pieces. Man passes earthquakes. Hunger, disease, orphanhood and widowhood, all that must be surmounted. Wipe out your tears. Weep not, refugee, architect of your tomorrow. Stand up and start again!’”

A teenage girl loses her whole family while escaping the horrors of the civil war in Burundi. She is raped by her mother’s murderer, then rejected by other refugees, who hated her father. She gives birth to a boy, the narrator of the story, who describes growing up in a circle of poverty, violence, discrimination and hunger – and the social, financial and political insecurity and limitations of the life of a refugee. The boy, Wache Wacheke Watachoka (his name means ‘Let them laugh, they will eventually get tired and keep quiet’), goes through several different challenges and hardships in life. His tale is a homage to survival in precarious situations; the cruel lesson that even if skilled and clever, your life is unwanted and worthless in the hands of natives of the host country, to the point of sometimes being hunted. It is a touching, descriptive and raw depiction of the life of a refugee. And, of course, clearly visible in Marie-Thèrése’s words is the small, underlying reason for it all, the ethnic conflict between people whose noses were different shapes. 

“There are lessons we learn from life. Their own life had never introduced them to a refugee experience. What would they understand if they had never had experience of being sick without any hope of treatment, being hungry with no hope of food, sleeping under rain, being refused in school and in a job for which you were highly qualified, simply because you are a refugee?” 

My last book for Burundi is Boho! by Roland Rugero. It is the first Burundian book translated into English – a book about the lingering fear, mistrust and miscommunication after a long war. In the story, a young mute man tries to find a way to a toilet from a young woman in rural Burundi. His gestures are understood to suggest rape – which launches a chain of unfortunate events. The young man becomes a target for post-war frustration and mass hysteria. The ethnic dichotomy is not an issue in this particular story, but rather the widespread cultural hangover from the monstrosities of war. The chapters are short and usually start with a proverb in Kirundi. As the narrative is based on oral communication in Burundi, the book becomes simultaneously interesting and fragmented. The story is told from various points of view from a rich variety of characters. It is an interesting read of a universal topic (false accusation of sexual violence) with a local flavour: Burundian storytelling, Kirundi proverbs, rural setting in an imaginary town in Burundian countryside and the obvious references to recent history. 

Filmmaking from Burundi 

Burundian audio-visual production did not truly launch until 1984 with the introduction of Burundian TV. The first full length feature film, Gito l’Ingrat (Gito, the ungrateful) by Leoncé Ngabo, was not produced until 1991.  Gito l’Ingrat went on to gain moderate international attention and festival success. The director founded the International Festival of Cinema and Broadcasting in Burundi (FESTICAB), which in turn was instrumental in the formation of the East African Film Network in 2014. The movie itself follows a story of a prodigal son who returns from France to Burundi with big plans and self-imposed arrogance, as he feels superior to his country’s people and expects big things to happen. As expected, life (featuring a love triangle) gives him a lesson in humility. While there are many interesting elements, from the subtle reflection on colonialism and the returning to one’s roots, the story itself is quite typical with the usual arc of protagonist self-realisation. It is a light-hearted film, and nothing really elevates it above average. Unfortunately, it does not help my enjoyment that it is difficult to root for Gito, the main character, and his expected descent is not even a fully satisfying one. However, being the first feature film from Burundi has its merit and the end credits reveal broad support from different Burundian ministerial departments to UNESCO, which of course makes the film a pioneer. 

Petit Pays (2020), written and directed by Éric Barbier, is based on Gaël’s book that I have read for the Burundi stop, mentioned earlier. As I knew the film version existed, I decided to read the book first, and am delighted that it is a very faithful adaptation and achieves justice to the narrative. It successfully brings Gaby’s story to life through gorgeous landscape and scenography. It achieves the sense of the loss of paradise and growing tension, first subtle and then explosive, and heartbreaking. It is a wonderful film as an extension to the book, with the right rhythm and space. It masterfully gives faces to the characters in the book, and to some of the devastating stories. The actors chosen for their roles are perfect – especially Isabelle Kabano playing Gaby’s mother. Fabien Lemercier (of CineEuropa) said about the movie: 

“A respectful approach to his [Gaël’s] literary model makes Small Country a vehicle both endearing and educational, a good example of great History clarified by the small one, and a sensitive (and widely accessible) perception of tragic events of which it is important to keep as many traces as possible in order to teach the depths of abysses and the virtues of resilience to those who didn’t know them.”

The Burundi Film Center, launched in 2007 with a small volunteer filmmaker group, that on their website says that it “promotes arts, culture, innovation and technology while facilitating the development and promotion of the industry”. The volunteers started to train young people (15-25) on film history, theory and production. The Center’s mission is to support Burundian film making through training, production, collaboration and promotion (domestic and international markets). The objective is to support a community of filmmakers that make ‘uniquely Burundian stories’ but also introduce contemporary media and professional journalism in the country. 

On their website, the Center showcases eleven short films that have been made with the support of the Burundi Film Center. While clearly still developing in film making, the short films tackle hard and pressing issues from refugees to sexual violence, HIV, cost of health services, unemployment, prostitution, single parenthood. Even if the difficult concerns in the stories are often narrative-ly resolved in almost miraculous ways, they are still raising awareness of important social problems. In the absence of feature films, these shorts offer a very interesting window documenting life in post-war Burundi. The shorts are nearly twenty years old, most from 2007 and the most recent from 2010 – which makes them filmed only a few years after the end of the conflict. Probably the most emotional for me is The Return of Old Kabura, telling of a 82-year-old man who fled Burundi after his wife and children were killed, and then returning after 38 years. 

Home Free

Produced by the Burundi Film Center, this documentary is written and directed by Canadian Christopher Redmond and Jessie Thomson. After 1972, more than 350,000 fled the violence and genocide in Burundi to neighbouring Tanzania. In 2007, the governments of Burundi and Tanzania decided to find a lasting solution to the Burundian refugee situation. The documentary follows three families with very different life decisions: one decides to return to Burundi after more than three decades, one decides to apply for Tanzanian citizenship, and one immigrates to Canada. The documentary reveals that 20% of the refugees (45,000 people) in Tanzania wished to return to Burundi – many without any means to do so, or even a place to go. 

Next stop: Bonus B

Thank you L for the proof reading

My daughter L (17) stands in front of the world map in the kitchen – it is her turn to find the country where we are stopping in. She assumes correctly that it is in Africa but it takes a while to find it within the 54 African countries. But there it is, right above Benin, where we have already stopped. In economic terms, it is considered one of the poorest countries in the world, with over 40% of the population living below the poverty line and with growing insecurity, violence and internal displacement. Named Burkina Faso in 1984 by President Thomas Sankara, the words come from two different languages spoken in the country (Mooré and Dioula) to form a mix which can be translated as the ‘Land of Incorruptible People’. Burkina Faso also has a capital with the grooviest of names, Ouagadougou. 

But first as ways: Food.

Moderate flavours

As a couple of future Virtual Nomad nights are going to be big ones, our intention was to hold a small Virtual Nomad night, whichwe achieved. Consisting of only five core members, we had a lovely night of interesting food and good conversation. I was almost entirely responsible for the preparation of the menu which certainly tested my mastercheffing skills but I can happily say that in the end my Burkinabé food is edible (Not outstanding but definitely not food poisoning-inducing!). My daughter L (17) and her boyfriend (very soon to be 18) were in charge of the dessert and they did a beautiful job.

Riz Gras is considered the national food of Burkina Faso. The name of the dish has French influence, with ‘Riz Gras’ meaning Fat Rice. As Burkina Faso is a resource deficient country, the cuisine is not rich in ingredients and this dish is very easy to prepare. As the name indicates, it has a good portion of rice, prepared in generous amounts of oil. The recipe I was following basically had rice, tomatoes, garlic, onions, tomato paste and beef. It is a dish that is also found in other parts of West Africa, especially in Senegal (where its variation is called Benachin) and Mali where it is called Zaamè. We ate something similar for the Benin entry: jollof rice. The dish carries some spices, but is generally mild. It was well received by the meat eaters and probably the favourite out of the four main dishes. However, it was clearly less enthusiastically consumed than the Bulgarian cuisine dishes and considered simple, good food without much fanfare. 

I also prepared Babenda, another rice dish. It usually includes locust beans but because they are not available in Sydney, I substitute them with salted black beans that I find at the Asian Market. Apart from beans, Babenda has greens (kale or spinach, I used spinach as it is less bitter), roasted peanuts and chilli. It is often combined with fish but I opted for a version without and the result is quite delicious. Again, it does not have a strong flavour but the combination of salted beans, peanuts and spinach is quite lovely for the palate regardless. It does feel like a side dish more than a main and luckily preserves well so that we can enjoy it throughout the week.  

Ragout d’igname is basically a stew prepared with yam. I cannot find yam so I use sweet potato instead with full knowledge that it is not a great substitute. Mine became a bit soupier than intended so we eat it as a first dish. The basic idea of the dish is to cook yam in tomato sauce until the water evaporates and the sauce thickens. Beef and other meats are optional so I decide to make the dish vegetarian. Ragout d’igname is basically a yam dish – interestingly, there is a belief in Western Africa that a woman that eats yam is likely to have twins. My version is very different from what I expect the real dish to be like- the taste of sweet potato makes the whole dish slightly bland.

Mafé is basically a peanut sauce. It is the national dish of Mali – so we will probably visit this dish again when Virtual Nomad stops there – but also very popular in Burkina Faso. In Burkina Faso, Poulet Mafé (chicken mafé) is very popular – chicken is cooked in a peanut butter sauce and served with rice. I decided to use fake chicken (“vegetarian chicken”) which of course did not taste the way it was supposed to. I enjoyed it but other non-vegetarian Virtual Nomads did not so next time, maybe when we get to Mali, I will prepare it with real chicken. 

The cherry on top was a delicious dessert. L (17) and her boyfriend NA (17) were in charge of preparing Dégué – a drink made of yogurt and grains. The traditional recipe includes pearl millet but L and NA use couscous instead which is also a popular choice for this recipe and not at all a faux pas. Very heavy on the dairy side; it has yoghurt, sour cream, condensed milk, vanilla milk. The result is delicious, fresh and milky – they did a great job!

The Land of Incorruptible People

Once upon a time, the plains of Burkina Faso were inhabited by different nations such as the Bobo, the Lobi, the Dioula and the Gurunsi. They still live in Burkina Faso alongside over 60 other ethnic groups, although the largest is the Mossi people who arrived in the region around the 15^th century. The Mossi established several kingdoms including Tenkodogo, Yatenga, Zandoma, and Ouagadougou (still the name of the capital), and resisted different threats and enemies for centuries. When France decided that, for some reason, a large part of Western Africa belonged to it, Burkina Faso became a French colony from 1895 to 1960.  Colonialism rarely brings ease and blessings to the native population – leading to resistance, for example the Volta-Bani War (1915 – 1917), one of the most significant rebellions against a colonial government (even in the scale of the whole of Africa).  Named Upper Volta in 1919, the name stuck until 1984. Upper Volta/Burkina Faso became independent in 1960.

The first years of the country were turbulent with different dictators overthrowing each other, until Thomas Sankara became Prime Minister, and then President. His short four years of rule have been considered one of the most progressive times in the history of Burkina Faso – he implemented vaccination programs for the whole country, expanded women’s rights (including the prohibition of female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy), improved infrastructure, encouraged domestic agriculture, reduced foreign debt; implemented nationwide and changed the name of the country to draw distance from the colonial past. He has been called the Che Guevara of Africa (note from L the proofreader – a major figure of the Cuban revolution – good to do Virtual Nomad to learn these things for the first time!), for his Marxist ideologies but also that despite his significant social programs, his government prosecuted (and executed) political opponents. Nevertheless, he is a national hero and the spirit of his legacy has inspired resistance and resilience in times of hardship. Che was then killed in a coup by a close friend and former ally Blaise Compaoré who did very little to make things better during his long regime (1987 -2014) and most progress was quickly lost pushing Burkina Faso back to being one of the poorest in the world. He left the country in 2014, due to an uprising caused by his failed attempt to alter the constitution to give him even more power. He was found guilty of Thomas Sankara’s murder in 2022. Burkina Faso is currently under another military rule and several political rights are restricted. In addition, the country has been experiencing Jihadist insurgency since 2015 and 10% of the population are internally displaced. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, in 2024 this is the world’s most neglected displacement crisis. In 2024, Burkina Faso, with its military ruled neighbours Niger and Mali, left the African Union and ECOWAS, Economic Community of Western Africa and formed their own coalition.   

More than 70 languages are spoken in the country. French was the official language until January 2024 when a ratified Constitutional Amendment defined French as a ‘working language’ together with English. More than half of the population speak Mooré. The economy is agriculture-based, with cotton as the main crop. The major resource for agriculture are the three rivers running into Ghana: Mouhoun (Black Volta), Nazinon (Red Volta) and Nakanbé (White Volta). According to the United Nations’ Human Development Index, Burkina Faso is the world’s 9^th poorest country in the world with continuing insecurity and threat of violence, political unrest, climate change and limited natural resources. 

Books from Burkina: aspirations of a better life  

Monique Ilboudo is Burkina Faso’s first female novelist. She has managed to break into the international market – to the extent that even my local library has one of her books. She works at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ouagadougou and has published several novels. My first book for Burkina Faso is her 2018 novel So Distant From My Life (translated by Yarri Kamara). It is a rather brief book but packs a lot in its mere 127 pages. It is narrated by Jeanphi, a young Burkinabé man obsessed with the idea of immigrating. He is a lazy and failing student with a studious sister and after a few attempts, his life changes when he meets a wealthy French man. 

“The word expatriation intrigued me, especially as a few pages later in the same newspaper, another article lamented ‘the tragedy of illegal immigration”… Why are some people expatriates, while other migrate, emigrate or immigrate? Reading the various definitions just confused me further. The words had almost the same meaning. Expatriation means you migrate to another country. When you leave, you emigrate, ad when you arrive, you immigrate.”

Overall, it is a confusing book. It tries hard to go in several different directions without really reaching anything solid. The first part of the book is a fascinating read and well narrated, with a captivating story and narrative that carries well. However,  the book then becomes confusing, with a few characters that enter and leave without any explanation or depth. It is a book of several great ideas that have been mostly left half-finished. One theme is migration and there are interesting developments and concerns, including the motivations and actions of the main character, but they do not really go anywhere concrete. The  Another is the criticism of the NGO-isation (and the well-meaning white saviours) but again there is so much room to go deeper. Then one theme is the sexual orientation (or sort of) of some of the characters, but again the development is artificial and thin. This is a book of a lot of intent despite little delivery, and leaves me wishing the author had given more time and dedication to build a rounder, more substantial body for everything she wants to discuss – be that colonialism, racism, corruption, tradition, religion, sexual orientation, family relationships, NGOs, international organisations, enraging whites and ‘development workers’ who present themselves as experts on Africa. In the end, it’s a pity because it could have been a great look at the country and in the end it just didn’t have enough structure. 

In spite of trying too much in this book, I still believe Monique is a very skilled writer so I try to get a hold of another book of hers, her awarded debut Le Mal de Peau, that is centered around a similar story to one of the movies I watched for the Bosnia and Herzegovina entry – the relationship between a mother and a daughter, born from a rape by a repressor. Unfortunately I am unable to find the book. 

I decide to read another highly rated Burkinabé book, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malidoma Some, a traditional healer and shaman with three Master’s degrees and two PhDs (one from Sorbonne). It is an autobiographical story of Malidoma’s path from being taken from his native village aged 4 and then subjected to religious indoctrination and cruel treatment at a French speaking Catholic boarding school where he forgot his native language. In the boarding school he witnessed all kinds of horrors, ranging from sexual abuse to beatings, all while yearning to return home. Years later, he returned to the village of his childhood where he started his true spiritual journey by first going through a month-long initiation ceremony, described in detail – the dreams, hallucinations, mystical journeys and encounters with the spiritual world. In the end he finds himself in the crossroads between two worlds, where the natural and the magical/supernatural blend together. Finally, he sees his role as a bridge builder between the spiritual, ritual, supernatural world and modern life. His name means “he who is friends with strangers.”

To be honest, I am not the best audience for spiritual self-help books, so again I cannot give the best review of this book. It is certainly interesting as a life story, but the spiritual side is unfortunately, personally just not compelling. But there are people that really love this book, and it has its unique value and is probably a wonderful introduction to the importance of spiritual rituals, connecting with ancestors and searching for one’s purpose. I read it as a life story and an interesting description of West African/Burkinabé traditions, but I understand that to a different reader it can be a very fulfilling spiritual experience as well.  

The Burkina Faso Movie Festival 

Burkina Faso is one of the countries producing the most feature films in Africa. It has an active film industry and a number of interesting, quality films. FESPACO – the Pan African Film and Television Festival, is a biennial event held in Ouagadougou. It is the largest Film Festival in Africa and the largest event in the world dedicated to African filmmaking. All this makes Burkina Faso one the core industries of African filmmaking.  

So. Time to decide what to watch from the country’s broad film offer. When a country has a strong film industry, we try to watch around ten of the top films. Deciding involves looking at different ‘best of’ lists regarding the essential Burkinabé films. 

The Guardian list (2020) of the 20 best African films includes two films from Burkina Faso – Yaaba (1989 – spot 12) and Borders (2017 – spot 20).  The website of Purely Africa (which celebrates African culture and diversity) has several ‘best film’ lists by African reviewers which include both Yaaba and Borders in high spots, as well as movies such as Buud Yam (1997) and Tilaï (1993). Other lists also include Bravo Burkina (2023) that gained momentum at the Sundance festival. The Cine Escapist list of the 54 best African movies (one from each country) mentions Yaaba (spot 50) for Burkina Faso. The Filmroot list includes Wallay (2017), Sankofa (1993) and The Crossing (2022). As a homage to the Burkinabé film industry, our intention is to watch all of these, but as most of the versions we get a hold of only have subtitles in French, I end up watching most of them by myself. 

I/we managed to see (in order of watching): Yaaba (1989), Samba Traoré (1993), Tilaï (1990), Buud Yam (1997), Sankofa (1993), Wallay (2017), Bravo Burkina (2023)  – and we also include Sira (2023) that JK and I have recently seen at the Sydney Film Festival. To my great disappointment, I am not able to find a copy of Borders or The Crossing and I will have to place them on the watch list for a future occasion. I am especially sad about not being able to watch Borders, so if I get an opportunity to watch it in the future, this section will be updated. 

My first film Yaaba (1989) is often referred to as one of the best films from Francophone Africa. It is written and directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo who is also the director of Samba Traoré and Tilaï. Idrissa was a renowned director, considered the great Burkinabé master of filmmaking whose movies, both short and feature, often focus around the balance between tradition and modernity in rural and urban Burkina Faso. 

Shot in location in Idrissa’s home village, Yaaba is a story of a boy who has lost his mother and befriends an older woman who the other village members call a sorceress, avoiding her. The boy calls her ‘Yaaba’ (grandmother) and finds a place of acceptance with her. It is a film of long shots and a simple, slow-pacing story. It is a story exploring prejudices, the weight of beliefs and traditions, unreasonable irrational adults and savvy children. It is interesting for its landscape, language and description of lifestyle, however is long, slow-paced and throughout the narrative, nothing much happens. According to the director, the movie is based on an African oral story that he heard in his childhood. Yaaba forms part of the second generation of African film that found inspiration in African oral traditions with universal elements – mixing the pan-African storytelling that honours its African roots while introducing elements that could make the films commercially viable. 

Samba Traoré (1993), again by Idrissa Ouedraogo, is a very different movie from Yaaba. It won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival and has a more prominent style closer Western storytelling than the slower-paced Yaaba. After a botched robbery in the city, one of the robbers escapes to his village with the money. He tries to live a normal life but his past haunts him. The story is basically a morality tale of guilt. It has a more dynamic rhythm and storytelling than Yaaba which makes it easier to watch. The landscape again is fascinating– a mix of urban and rural environments. The scenography is visually very pleasing, and the leads Mariam Kaba and Bakary Sangaré look good together. It is an interesting story built around the idea that one should take responsibility for one’s actions or the past will not only hurt you but also the people around you. 

Another movie by Idrissa is Tilaï (1990), winning the Jury Prize in Cannes in 1990. It is a story following family pride, loyalty and betrayal on various levels. The story focuses on Saga who returns to his rural village home only to find that his fiancé Nogma has been married to his father. Saga’s mother (his father’s first wife) is still alive and sidelined by the young bride. Nogma does not love her old husband and rekindles the flame with Saga who quits the family much to the father’s discontent. Nothing stays secret and Saga’s soft and conciliatory brother finds himself in a difficult position between his father and brother, and is required to take action to restore the family pride. Tradition weighs heavily on the village and ‘tilaï’ (law) needs to be followed, leading to communal loss. This is my favourite of the three films by Idrissa, being more complex, nuanced and multilayered than the other two. When Saga’s young sister asks her mom to explain life to her because she does not understand why Nogma has married an old man and not the man she loves, her mother angrily brushes her off and says:” Nogma will love her husband just like I do mine. That is how life goes.” When she asks Saga’s brother to help Nogma, he simply says;” We can’t do anything. It is her destiny.”. Throughout, the film shows similar simple sentences that pack so much meaning in a life of no choice which will lead to devastation and loss. 

When Buud Yam (1997) by Gaston Gaboré was released in Burkina Faso, it became the most successful Burkinabé movie by that date. Strongly embedded in oral tradition, it is a story of a young man in search for his roots. It is a sequel to Wend Kuuni (1993) by the same director. I decide not to watch the first movie and only the second, as the number of Burkinabé movies is already piling up, but I understand that the first movie is about the origins of the main character, Wend Kuuni. The second movie is about prejudices, identity, remembrance and redemption. When his adopted sister falls ill, Wend Kuuni is accused of bringing back luck to the family and is forced to flee and find a healer who can heal his sister. It is a common storyline of a hero’s journey with a slow paced African storytelling and a subtle criticism of superstition and discrimination. Visually pleasing, the movie offers beautiful landscapes as Wend Kuuni travels through different landscapes and meets different people along his journey. 

Sankofa (1993) is a co-production between Burkina Faso, Ghana, US and Ethiopia. It is directed by a US-based Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima, and is his most famous movie. More than a Burkina Faso-movie as such, it is a Pan-African tale of the brutality of slavery. The word ‘sankofa’ comes from the Akan language, spoken mainly in Ghana and is interpreted to mean gaining wisdom from the past. The movie itself is said to encourage people of African Diaspora to not forget their roots. In the movie a young model called Mona is on a photoshoot in Ghana when a spirit of Sankofa (depicted as a bird in the movie) transports her to the past to live the life of one of her ancestors, a slave called Shola on a plantation in the Southern United States. 

There are very few movies about slavery by African-born directors and that makes Sankofa particularly remarkable. It shows the brutality of slavery, and presents the diversity (of origin) of slaves who all came from different places and nations and were thrown together into a merciless existence embedded with the longing for freedom and motherland. While it is harrowing and effective in its depiction of ruthless plantation owners and callous priests, it would have been an even better movie without a distracting and somehow unnecessary subplot of a mixed-raced son of a slave Joe and his inner turmoil which I find poorly represented. There are moments of emotional effectiveness, poetic undertones especially related to music and stories connecting to the motherland but there are several weaknesses that take away from a film that could have been very powerful and valuable. But this said, even in its unevenness, Sankofa is an important movie and unique in its portrayal of the enslaved as rootless individuals thrown into an inhuman reality – a painful embarrassment to the human race, as any forms of slavery have been and continue to be. 

Wallay (2017) by Berni Goldblatt is another movie in the African cinematographic tradition that looks into the balance and conflict between tradition and modernity. The movie follows a teenage boy Ady living in France who is sent to rural Burkina Faso to live with his uncle Amadou. It is a classic coming-of-age movie that offers very few surprises. As expected, at first a reluctant and modern technology-driven teen, Ady finds a place of love and acceptance in the homeland of his father. There is a cultural tradition tension with Ady’s uncle who is expecting Ady to do something that would make him more ‘culturally acceptable’. Shot with love and tenderness towards the tradition and motherland, it is a tale of finding roots and identity, personal growth, family relation and intergenerational relations. 

Bravo Burkina (2023) by Walé Oyéjidé is a melancholic tale of immigration and the space between the past and the present that most immigrants know well. When the past is no longer yours and the present will never be yours, immigrants are often stuck ‘in between’ time and place, belonging and alienation, and not fully being rooted anywhere. Walé Oyéjidé is a filmmaker, but also writer and designer with his own design brand. He describes his brand Ikiré Jones as “fashion to celebrate the perspectives of marginalized people”. Walé was the costume designer for Black Panther which explains a lot of the visuals of this film. Bravo Burkina is quite experimental and made in collaboration with asylum seekers and traditional weevers. As said, it is a dream-like experiment – a man travels through time to Burkina Faso of his childhood to live and feel what he has left behind and lost. Despite definitely being beautiful and a visual feast the story itself unfortunately does not really take off. 

One movie that I really wanted to see is Borders by Apolline Traoré (2017) which follows the journey of four women on a bus through different borders in Western Africa, and the stories these women have. But despite not being able to get a hold of a copy of that movie, fortunately there is another movie from Apolline that I have been able to see.  During the Sydney Film Festival 2023, JK and I headed to see Sira (2023); Apolline’s latest movie. It won the Berlinale Panorama Audience Award. Sira is a young woman who survives an Islamic terrorist kidnapping in the desert just before her wedding. She is left in the desert to die, proceeding to seek revenge in a badass way. Apolline said in an interview that she started writing the story after hearing about a massacre in Burkina Faso that claimed more than 160 lives in one village. She wanted to film the movie in Burkina Faso, but due to the security issues could not, and filmed it in Mauritania instead. The movie is filmed in Fula and the mission for Apolline was to show the current situation in Burkina Faso while underlining the courage and sacrifice of women in this situation. An interesting fact is that when Apolline returned to live in Burkina Faso in 2005, she started working with Idrissa (the director of the first three movies I saw for this entry).

The movie itself could be described as an action film in the desert. There is a fair bit of graphic violence, from sexual violation to massacre. Both JK and I appreciated seeing it because it was not what we expected to see, however we also shook our heads a bit at the not believable parts of revenge and general bad-assing. But we do understand that Sira is an action movie, and action movies are universally exaggerated in their hero’s capabilities, so why would not this one be as well. At the same time there is something quite remarkable in this movie – it is in the end a very bold manifestation against the violence suffered by civilians. Therefore there is something satisfying in the way the one woman army goes after the baddies even if it does not always happen in real life. 

Vibrant Art Scene

Just like the strong film industry, Burkina Faso also has a vibrant art and music scene. There are several really interesting artists in different disciplines. We have chosen to look at the art of Adjaratou Ouedraogo, a Togo-born artist currently living in Burkina Faso. Her art is vibrant, colourful and simple. She works with different mediums; painting, drawing,sculpture and even animated film. It has been said to reflect the child that she once was, who survived a traumatic event of abuse at the age of 8. Many of her artworks deal with the themes of childhood and family, mixed with the notion of hope. She has held exhibitions around the world: one of her recent solo exhibitions was called Resilience.  

Photo credit: https://www.lagalerie38.com/en/expositions/ode-to-union-by-adjaratou-ouedraogo/ 

Next stop: Burundi

Thank you L for the proof reading