The movement called Ganbanaaxun Fedde (meaning the 'federation of equality' in Soninke) gained momentum from late 2016 among diasporic Soninke-speaking groups, who act and speak up against their ongoing discrimination based on the internal African slave past. The movements’ steering committee is based in a central hub for the Soninke diapora: Paris. Through the clever use of WhatsApp groups, ambitious Mauritanian students in Paris succeeded in obtaining active members among people categorised as kome in West Africa. ‘Kome’ literally means ‘enslaved’ but continues to be used to refer to the supposed ‘descendants of formerly enslaved’ among Soninke speakers in Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia and their worldwide diasporas.

The movie is based on interviews with activists and those displaced due to their activism. It also documents some of the polarizing dynamics generated by – both on- and offline –anti-slavery resistance and the struggle for equality. While the movement is transregional and transnational, the focus is on four cases from Western Mali, documenting struggles over land, endogamy, incarceration and displacement.

Trigger warning

Trigger warning for attending audiences and students. We would like to disclose that some audiences may find the verbal and visual content of this movie triggering or offensive as it contains polarized discourses and visual representations of violence. The material includes content that touches on: physical beating, images of destruction of villages and property, demonstrations of people showing posters with wounded people, pictures of a woman who got killed. We ask attending audiences who may feel triggered, overwhelmed, or panicked by the content to take the necessary steps for their emotional safety. This may include withdrawing from the presentation or reaching out to one of the event organisers for support.