Korean Premiere
2013 BFI London Film Festival / 2013 AFI Film Festival, Audience Award

Synopsis
Amaka is a devoted wife and a loving mother to their daughter. She is six months pregnant, and has a good job that she loves. One day, Amaka loses the baby. Permanent damage to her womb means she won’t be able to have any more children. Amaka says nothing about the stillbirth to anyone. Instead she fakes being pregnant.

Program Note
A stunning debut film by the Nigerian director Chika ANADU. The director shows how patriarchy functions in Nigeria, where tradition and the modern coexist. With a decent job, a loving husband a daughter, and a baby on the way, Amaka is a middle-class woman who boasts of leading a happy life. Yet her old minded mother-in-law adamantly demands a son as an heir, and further announces that Nonso will have a second wife if she fails to produce an heir. Having given birth to a stillborn baby, Amaka hides the fact in desperation and illegally purchases a not-yet born baby from a poor pregnant woman. This film shows how a liberal woman who believed to have escaped from the traditions of a patriarchal society is once again brought into the yoke of patriarchy in a society that is not yet liberal. Ironically, women are given the responsibility to continue and maintain the patriarchy, and although they themselves are the victims of patriarchy, they end up exploiting weaker women. Amaka\'s husband Nonso can never understand Amaka, who is enveloped in psychological anxiety and trapped in structural oppression. As a result, after Amaka gives birth to a stillborn, the scene where Amaka puts on her prosthetic breasts and belly like fetters on her body is symbolic. Prosthetic breasts and belly for a liberal and modern couple become the means to continue the patriarchal tradition and women\'s oppression. The message of the film is delivered through Uche NWADILI\'s natural and remarkable acting with confidence and charisma, as well as the hand-held camera that captures the actress\'s restless anxiety. [CHO HyeYoung]