Adhiambo – Born in the Evening

Synopsis

‘Adhiambo’ means ‘the one born in the evening’ in the language of the Luo of western Kenya. The film follows NyaSeme, a married mother and grandmother in her late 30s, during the last month of her pregnancy and through the first weeks of her newborn daughter’s life. The first part of the film focuses on everyday life in NyaSeme’s home, as well as on the work of the anthropologists in the home, who themselves are expecting a child, which is born shortly after NyaSeme’s. The second part follows the various small illnesses that the child, goes through. NyaSeme employs the herbal resources of the bush surrounding the home as well as those of the government dispensary; simultaneously, Otto, the anthropologists’ son falls ill and receives various forms of medical treatment. The film creates a personal account of a woman’s life, motherhood, children and the maintenance of bodily health in rural western Kenya, as well as insights into the reflexive and relational nature of ethnographic fieldwork.