Oumou left her village when she was 14 to come to work as a maid in Bamako. Endless days, humiliation, pittance... Like hundreds of thousands of her fellows, she endures harsh life with hope for a better life. By night, these "little maids" gather to express their resentment. Helped by some activists, some of them begin to organize themselves so as to defend their rights. Meanwhile, Hawa is about to leave her village and come for the first time to the city.

A film by Adeline GONIN

Mali, 2015, Documentary, 57'

Country of Production: France

Context
BARAKEDEN means "little house maids" in bambara, the national language of Mali. For urban Malians, this word sounds like an insult. At twelve or thirteen years old, many girls leave their village to serve families in the capital city. They often work more than 15 hours per day for a pittance (around 7,000 FCFA, being less than 8 euros per month). Abuses, unpaid wages, rape, these are how their employers and townspeople in general treat them.

Written and directed by Adeline GONIN
Music by MÛ MBANA (Portugal)
Cinematography : Adeline Gonin and Jonathan Duong
Sound : Jean-Marc Delaunay
Editing: Olivia Bernholc
Color corrections : Matthieu Augustin, Sonosapiens
Sound mix:Xavier Thibault, Sonosapiens

Production:
Attention Chantier, Thomas Laou-Hap
and L'Échangeur, Julien Fiorentino

with the support of SCAC Ambassade de France in Mali, Mairie de Paris, DRDJS and the KissKissBankers

Visa:140 645 (2015)
Shooting format : HDV
Screening format : Color - 16/9 - Stereo 2.0 - DCP, BluRay, HD files


* Selections
- 2015: 2nd Documentary Film Festival, Africadoc, Saint-Louis, Senegal
- 2015: 5th New documentary cinemas festival, Porto-Novo, Benin
- 2015: 12th Verzio Human Rights Documentary Festival,
Budapest, Hungary
- 2015: 23thAfrican Diaspora International Film Festival, NYC, USA
- 2015: 35th International Film Festival, Amiens, France
- 2015: 2nd Africa Women Films Meeting, Dakar, Senegal
- 2015: 9th Terra di Tutti Film Festival, Bologna, Italia
- 2015: 15th Lumières d'Afrique Festival, Besançon, France
- 2015: 10th Cinémas d'Afrique Festival, Lausanne, Swiss
- 2015: 3rd Maputo African Film Week, Maputo, Mozambico
- 2015: 11th Ciné Droit Libre Festival, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso /
- 2015: 2nd After Varan Festival, Ateliers Varan, Paris
- 2015: 19th Arrimage Festival, Institut National de Géographie, Paris, France