Sisters in Law(2005)
dir. Kim Longinotto & Florence Ayisi
Two Cameroonian women turn a courtroom on abusers.
Where to watch: Free with a library card: Kanopy (JustWatch US, checked 2026-11-10; Yidio agrees). No rent/buy found. Verify.Letterboxd ↗
In a courthouse in Kumba, a small town in Cameroon, two women do what few people there expect them to: a state prosecutor and a court president take on cases of domestic violence, child abuse and forced marriage, and win. Longinotto and Ayisi follow a woman, a girl and a husband through the system in real time, and show a legal process that can be slow, funny and fierce. A documentary about what it looks like when the law is used on behalf of women.
Why it’s here
It's a film about two women who treat the law as a tool and use it. What's punk is the lack of speeches: the courage is in the daily work of telling a man, in public, that what he did is a crime. What's pedagogical is how clearly it shows a justice system as people making choices. Note: includes discussion of child abuse, domestic violence and a girl's testimony; the film is frank but not graphic. Adds Cameroon and a West African women's story to the movie shelf. English, Pidgin and French with subtitles.
Where This Film Lives
- Setting
- Cameroon • Central Africa
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