Guerilla Grannies (2012)

Directed by: Ike Bertels | 80 minutes | documentary

Seeing the three women in ‘Guerilla Grannies’, it’s hard to believe that these oldies are tough guerrilla fighters at heart. They look tired and lifeless. Yet they are the ones who, through years of fighting, contributed to the liberation of Mozambique. This African country has long been oppressed by colonizer Portugal. The population rebelled against this and a bloody war ensued. However, the fighters got what they wanted, as Mozambique was declared independent in 1975.

After seeing a BBC documentary about guerrilla fighters Monica, Maria and Amelia, director Ike Bertels was so moved by the events that she decided to visit the three women herself. She has made films about the lives of women after the war twice before (‘Women of the War’, 1984 and ‘A Guerrilla Pension’, 1994), and the third film will be released in 2012. The women are now old, they have grandchildren and the fighting spirit seems to have disappeared from their eyes. Bertels tries to visualize how Mozambican culture has changed over the years and how the women deal with this.

The images are very personal and penetrating, it seems as if the viewer is part of African life for a moment. We see the children and grandchildren of the women, the people they fought so hard for. A good future for their family is what the young girls lived for at the time. The fighting has paid off, more and more children are given the opportunity to go to school and make something of their lives. Still, the women are not completely satisfied. With the change of the regime, something in the ideology of the citizens also seems to have changed. Where people used to fight for their ideals, today everyone seems lazy and easy-going. Monica, Amelia and Maria are no longer as respected as they used to be, nowadays they have to settle for a simple role in Mozambique society.

Bertels beautifully portrays the field of tension between the successful struggle and the gloomy poverty-stricken life. No matter how hard you fight, it will never be perfect and there comes a time when you have to accept how it went. The viewer is made to think about the enormous influence the West has had on colonized countries, and how these effects are still in effect years later. The documentary ‘Guerrilla Grannies’ is not just a history lesson, but a personal and intimate reflection on a turbulent period.