Stephanie Linus Talks On Her Motivation Behind Dry Movie And "VVF" Girls

Winner of the Best Overall Movie at 2016 AMVCAs, Stephanine Linus took time out to grant the dalies an interview on her success as a movie director, her motivation and much more. read after the cut. 

"Dry" As A Movie

It’s more like a movement because we actually raised money to also help repair some of the women who are going through challenges arising from premature child birth. So, there are so many aspects of the film. This is more like a five-year to six-year project. This is not a flash in the pan. As far as we keep having the issue of the girl-child, this film will always be relevant. Even recently, the ministry of health is looking at how to use it to create greater awareness with this particular movie around the country.We need to start talking about problems and seek ways in which we need to address them. And I’m happy that every day I turn on the TV, I see the issue of the girl-child being discussed. People are taking it more seriously.Most agencies are also thinking of the right things to do because we have laws that are not being enforced. I was happy that last year, the bill against violence against persons was passed into law. I actually lent my voice and I spoke at the National Assembly telling them we needed to pass this bill.

On Her Motivation for Helping Girls With Vesico-vaginal fistula VVF

To me, I feel this is more like a calling because this burden has been on me since my second year (university) when I first heard of Fistula. And coming from my background that I was able to go to school, have an education, I feel strange that so many people do not have that kind of choice. And I think that nobody really should be denied their right to do that.So it became a burden to me and, as a filmmaker, I felt that I have the tool to mirror the things that are happening in my society and see how I can proffer solutions for such people to have a dialogue or conversation or look deeper and search for different meanings to the whole existence of why we’re all here on earth. We cannot be relying on ‘this is the culture, this is that thing we used to do’. You check, ‘what are the medical implications? You want to marry this girl off, yes, I’m not fighting with whatever reasons you have but we’re saying, ‘you’re marrying them, at the end of day, when they have this disease, you discard them as trash. You don’t do anything to protect them.’ And they become a nuisance to society. They don’t live a fulfilled life. ‘So, is that what you call love?’ I don’t think so. So, I felt that it is worrisome in this twenty-first century that we’re still having archaic cultures of things that are not moving us forward as a people.Those are the kind of conversations that we need to have and see if we can change them. And that is my motivation.

You can read more of the interview on...

The Nation has the full interview