In Waikiriki, Nigeria, all girls must go through an inescapable ritual when they turn seventeen years old. The girls are paraded bare-breasted before the entire community so their nipples can be examined to determine whether they are still virgins. They are then confined to the “fattening rooms,” their legs immobilized in copper impala rings, where they are pampered and fed. Azikiwe, who has lived and been educated in the city for ten years, challenges this tradition with her contempt and disgust and asserts that she will live her life as she always has. The adult men maintain the importance of cultural diversity, while the village women blame the “city girl” for her disrespect to their community’s traditional ritual.
 Bashful confessions from the girls as they experiencing every step of the ritual reveal their complex emotions and reactions, from difficulty to satisfaction. Through this search for the ‘right’ way to live as a woman and a human being, we are able to connect these girls’ stories to a matrix of matters like culture, nation, womanhood, urbanization, and modernization. This year’s special program of African cinema will open up a discussion about Africa through the different perspectives of filmmakers. (Sue Kim)