There is hardly a film in our series that does not portray the oppression of African women, and frequently their rebellion, but Finzan alone takes this issue as its central theme, casting a withering eye on the traditions that keep women bound, in the name of binding society together. And it does so by weaving a lively and often humorous script around an issue it takes deadly seriously. Newly widowed Naryuma patently refuses to become the wife of her brother-in-law, who is next in line by protocol and the village idiot by profession. When she goes into hiding, the village women become divided on the issue, while children of both sexes are fearless ("Can't you tell him the shit off?") and the men fearful. In a parallel story, the younger Fili creates a scandal when it is discovered that she has been spared the ritual of female circumcision, albeit for health reasons. A third sub-plot pits the whole community against the State-but Sissoko deftly refuses the notion that the best weapon against its incursion is the blind allegiance to moribund tradition.