Sisters in Law (Documentary) Close Study

This 37 full colour slide presentation provides an overview of the issues and filmmaking practices deployed in the production of Sisters in Law, a documentary by British filmmaker Kim Longinotto and Cameroonian filmmaker Florence Ayisi. The lesson revolves around the cinema verite practices used, transnational feminism, ‘post-feminism’ and its clichés, issues of representation, and the struggle for women’s rights within societies that are culturally mixed and traditionally patriarchal. Although these are complex issues, the resource is aimed at an A-Level (Year 12 / 13) learner, following the EDUQAS Film Studies Curriculum.
For this reason, there is focus on the filmmaking practices used as well as the human rights issues within the documentary. The presentation ends with an exam question from the Eduqas A Level Film Studies Specification, so that film studies students can apply the learning from the presentation. However, this resource could also form an interesting resource for social studies, media studies or African cultural studies. The human rights issues make this a widely applicable resource that could be useful across a variety of subjects. The content should fill a two-hour lesson and provides ample scope for class discussions and (for A-Level FIlm Students) exam practice.