The return of a young filmmaker to her home country, Cameroon, and her reunion with her mother.

2024 film directed by Rosine Mbakam

Delphine’s Prayers is a portrait of Delphine, a Cameroonian woman who, by the age of 13, had lost her mother, been abandoned by her father, and had been raped. First turning to sex work to support herself, Delphine later married a Belgian man more than three times her age in the hope of finding a better life in Europe for herself and her daughter. Seven years after her marriage, the European dream has dissipated, and her situation has worsened. This is where the third feature film from Cameroonian-born, Belgium-based filmmaker Rosine Mbakam begins. Mbakam joins Delphine in her Brussels apartment, as she engages Mbakam, the camera, and the viewer in a frank and direct address. With a strong, sensitive voice, Delphine tells her life story with palpable emotion and frequent anger. Her unusual energy and courage consume the confined space that she inhabits. Delphine’s voice is essential, and this film belongs to her.

Have Rosine come in and don’t let her leave her stuff outside – people really behave like junkies. Rosine follows the invitation, enters and is now an official guest of the tiny “Jolie” hairdressing salon in the Matonge district of Brussels. The women who work and are served here come from Africa. They tell stories of fake passports and escape routes via Libya, Syria or Greece, of families left behind, Belgian men and complicated relationships. The place is like an aquarium. Coloured and dark strands of hair that resemble octopuses are brushed and braided. The shop has glass walls, the sounds of the shopping mall frequently drift in, the door opens and there’s a brief flirtation with a man. In between, the eyelash lengthening glue burns on the lid and a Tontine named “The Glowworms” is founded, a widespread financial tool of solidarity-based economy. The Salon serves as a real and metaphorical link between Africa and Europe. At the same time it is a protective space and a home. Rosine Mbakam, a native of Cameroon herself, came to Belgium in 2007 to study film. This is her second feature-length film as a director.

The lighting for movie cameras has always been calibrated for white skin; three filmmakers collectively explore the literal, theoretical, and philosophical dimensions of that reality in this discursive, playful, and profound work of nonfiction.