Our founder, Beryl Magoko, was a guest on Deutschlandfunk Kultur’s “Im Gespräch” program on February 6. The discussion focused not only on her film work, but also on the background that makes our work at Tazama e.V. so important.

Beryl reported that our film screenings at Tazama deliberately involve not only girls at risk, but the entire community—parents, boys, and social decision-makers. “The Cut,” one of Beryl’s documentaries dealing with female genital mutilation, is shown at our screenings and serves as a starting point for discussion and reflection in the communities.

“It’s not just about circumcision, but also about periods and other issues. It’s important that we work together with governments, doctors, teachers, and society as a whole.”

This is the only way to reduce the enormous social pressure on families in the long term. Beryl vividly described how deep the exclusion goes: uncircumcised women are often considered “unclean,” isolated from the community, and have little chance of marriage—mechanisms that we counter with education.

A central point of the discussion was the narrative of “purity” that keeps FGM alive to this day. Beryl found clear words for this: she described the promises made to the girls as “deception” and “lies.” There is talk of a celebration and beauty, but the crucial detail, the brutal pain and loss, is concealed.

“No one had had the courage to tell the truth. […] That’s why I said I would make a film to really tell the truth about circumcision. And to save the girls.“

She also discussed her personal journey of reconstructive surgery. She made it clear that this step was much more than a physical procedure. For her, it was about regaining sovereignty over her body and her history: ”I did it to really get my voice back.”

Much more important and impressive background information can be heard in the program:
https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/kenianische-dokumentarfilmerin-beryl-magoko-ein-film-um-die-maedchen-zu-retten-100.html