52 minutes / Color
English subtitles
Release: 2010
Copyright: 2008
"I am singing about onion farming, bringing both suffering and joy." So sings an onion farmer as he works his field Galmi, in Niger. Beside him stands Yaro, a fellow farmer who knows all too well the hope and sorrow his livelihood can bring.
Agriculture is key to the local economy, with Galmi onions prized throughout West Africa. Shot over the course of one growing season, FOR THE BEST AND FOR THE ONION! is a verite documentary that captures the rhythms of life in Galmi, and how the vagaries of market price and harvest can affect the most intimate personal decisions.
Yaro's daughter Salamatou is betrothed to Adamou. The couple hope to marry soon, but after each harvest - much to his future son-in-law's frustration - Yaro postpones the wedding yet again. He says he wants his daughter to be married with dignity, and that means having enough money to pay for all the expenses tradition demands.
As the growing season progresses, Yaro is under increasing pressure to finally set a date for the wedding. Meanwhile, the market price of onions begins a rapid downward slide and the engaged couple come up with a solution to speed their marriage.
Filmed in director Elhadj Magori Sani's home community, FOR THE BEST AND FOR THE ONION! offers a rare level of intimacy and immediacy that can only come from the eye of an insider.
"…provides an intimate look at the lives of one African Muslim family in Galmi, Niger."—Educational Media Reviews Online
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A quartet of short films (on one DVD) that lay bare the reality of everyday life in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
2010 | 69 minutes | Color | English subtitles
