Imbalu: Ritual of Manhood of the Gisu of Uganda

Synopsis

An insightful documentary, constructed with visual restraint, about the male circumcision ritual among the Gisu of Uganda. The narrative follows one male participant through the ritual and contrasts his hopes and anxieties on this important day of his life with the expectations of the rest of the village and some rude remarks of his circumcisers.

The Gisu numbering over half a million are Bantu-speaking agriculturalists who live on the western slopes of Mount Elgon in Uganda. The dramatic rituals of circumcision (imbalu) take place every two years, with individual boys choosing their own year. Gisu boys are usually circumcised when they are between 18 and 25 years old and are required to stand upright for the operation, betraying no sign of fear, pain, or reluctance. As an ordeal, it thus has a critical personal dimension and one where a boy, in validating his own claim to manhood, at the same time validates the identity of all Gisu and the power of the tradition which unites them. In shooting the film footage, the filmmakers were concerned to present Gisu circumcision as far as possible from the point of view of the perspectives – to see how boys of this culture faced up to and underwent the ordeal. The film focuses on two boys, Mataki and Nasani, friends who lived within 100 yards of each other, and who decided to go through the rituals together. The story of Gisu circumcision is allowed to emerge through their experiences – and indeed though the personalities – of the two boys. There is therefore no commentary but a narration from the point of view of one of the main participants, Yovani, close friend of Mataki and elder brother to Nasani. The dramatic form invites identification with the boys as we follow them through from their first tentative statements of intent, though the tribulations which follow, and finally to the operation itself.