HABIBA

HABIBA, a brilliant fourteen years old student, was destined to a bright future. Removed from school and forced to marry Ambaliou, an old man, she faced a difficult pregnancy and a painful delivery. Then, a terrible ordeal befell her: obstetric fistula.
Rejected, she took refuge in the forest from where she’ll be removed to be sent to the hospital.
Ten years later, healed but hidden, she finds enough courage to tell her story in order to restore hope among hundreds of women affected by that pathology.

  • Sèna Calmine AGBOFOUN
    Director
  • Sèna Calmine AGBOFOUN
    Writer
  • Women For Women
    Producer
  • Aïssatou BOUKARY
    Key Cast
  • Abibatou NADAKOU
    Key Cast
  • Labim KASSA
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    HABIBA
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 5 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 14, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    12,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Benin
  • Country of Filming:
    Benin
  • Language:
    French
  • Shooting Format:
    Full HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF)
    Luxor
    Egypt
    March 18, 2017
    North African Premiere
    None
  • Emergence Films Festival
    Lomé
    Togo
    December 15, 2016
    West African Premiere
    None
Director Biography - Sèna Calmine AGBOFOUN

Sena Calmine AGBOFOUN was born on August 14th, 1990 in Cotonou, Benin republic. After her A Levels in Literature, she enters the ‘’Institut Supérieur des Métiers de l'Audiovisuel’’ where she got a Bachelor Degree in Broadcasting Journalism. But she decided to become a filmmaker.
Since then, she co-directed in 2011, the documentary short film ''Ayoka, l'Amazone-mere'', in 2012, the documentary short film ''Djegbadji, temple du sel'' and in 2016, ''My passion, my fight'' for the American Film Showcase program. She then directed ''Talk to me'', for the LAFF 2016 workshops. HABIBA is her first film as an independent filmmaker. She is single. She loves music and cats.

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Director Statement


I wanted to write a story as we see every day. The story of an encounter or a love, a story full of laughter or simply a commonplace story that does not move more than that. But the day I heard about obstetric fistula, I decided to relate it, even though it was not meant to brighten. Far from there.
Obstetric fistula is a gap between the bladder (sometimes the rectum) and the vagina, caused by the pressure of the baby during long and unassisted births (Echo magazine, May 12, 2011, p.14) Add the sufferings of the mother. Incontinent, infected with wounds in her privacy, carrying a little known and misunderstood pathology, she lives in shame and exclusion (UNFPA 2012). According to generally accepted assessments, between 2 and 3.5 million women suffer from An obstetric fistula in the developing world, and 50,000 to 100,000 new cases occur each year.

I read everything I could on the subject. I have even bent to the study of environments with low rates of access to health care for women. But nothing has yet been able to justify in my eyes the occurrence of this scourge, which, however, is avoidable.
The best way to effectively combat obstetric fistula is to prevent it. Awareness turns out to be a formidable weapon, beliefs and habits having a hard life. And that is the whole purpose of this docu-fiction. He does not pretend to attack any civilization whatsoever. It is just a vector of information, education, communication and especially demystification of obstetric fistula.
There will be the fictional part that will retrace the story of a fistulous woman and that of the documentary which will consist of interviews of real people.

I wanted to write a story as we see every day. But my status as a woman and a mother inspires me to write this one. I owe it to all those women who suffer unnecessarily to give life. It would be a kind of comfort for them, because "No woman should die in giving life and we have a duty to give every woman, every child, and a young person of this country a chance", says Mrs. Diene KEITA, Representative of UNFPA BENIN.