Marriage for papers or love? The heart-wrenching choice in Maoussi

Any African immigrant to a Western nation will tell you that marriage to a citizen is the easiest way to acquire papers. Most of these marriages are not informed by love; they are unions borne of convenience.

Edo, a Congolese immigrant in Paris, finds himself in a fix when a woman he has been cohabiting with, frustrates him every time he suggests that they get married so that he can acquire papers, which would enable him to work and send help to his folks back at home.

Babette, for that is the name of the woman Edo is living with, is a difficult woman. Although she freely confesses to be in love with Edo, she gives a convoluted answer as to why she can’t tie the knot with him. This is despite Edo pouring his heart out to her and telling her that he risks being deported back to his war-torn country.

In the face of heavy odds, Babette insists that Edo should apply for asylum the formal way.

Now Edo, played by Moustapha Mbengue, and Babette are characters in a French movie titled Maoussi, which premiered in East Africa on March 17 at the Alliance Française auditorium. The movie is based on a true story as experienced by Charlotte Schiøler, the movie director, who also played the role of Babette.

The movie takes a critical look at the experience of African asylum seekers, especially in Europe. Inevitabl,y questions must be asked why these Africans risk life and limb to go to Europe, and for Edo’s case, France. In almost all of these cases, these asylum seekers are escaping difficult living conditions back home.

It is unimaginable that a person living a comfortable life in Africa would throw that away, risk their life on rickety and dangerously overcrowded boats, in sometimes choppy waters, to go Europe. It is those who have reached their wits' end that take on these dangerous journeys. There is also the added risk of these asylum seekers being turned into slaves, particularly in the lawless North African nation of Libya.

Had these African countries been properly managed, life for their citizens would be manageable, and they would not see the need to seek a ‘better life’ abroad. This pivots us back to clueless, corrupt African politicians who have run their countries to the ground, making life a nightmare for their subjects.

The desperation in these African countries has, in turn spawned an entire industry that seeks to capitalise on this desperation by establishing agencies that export labour abroad. This is how, for example, our girls are flying out in droves to Gulf nations where they do backbreaking household jobs. In the process, we get to hear gory stories of these poor girls being mistreated, some of whom come back home in caskets.

The Kenyan government, instead of ensuring that young people are gainfully occupied, is now competing with these agencies to export cheap labour abroad, and not without controversy and scandal.

Back to Maoussi: Edo, newly arrived from Congo, lands in Babette’s apartment in Paris, a temporary living arrangement, we are told, until he finds his footing. One thing leads to the other, and a steamy affair between the two ensues.

Back to reality

While the affair with Babette offers temporary distraction to Edo, phone calls from home remind him what he came to Paris to do: get a job and send money to his suffering family back at home. There is a hint of him having a wife and possibly children back at home, a thing he goes to great lengths to shield from Babette, including by gaslighting her.

Edo is painfully aware that his goal cannot be realised without him convincing Babette to marry him. That explains why he gets pushy and manipulative, occasionally throwing tantrums as a way of getting Babette to accede to his demands.

It is doubtful he has any feelings for the woman; he views her as a vessel for him to achieve what he wants.

Babette, in her naïveté, wants things to be done the ‘right way’, with Edo applying for asylum the ‘proper way’ followed by them getting married; not for the convenience of him getting the papers but for love.

And what is the ‘proper way’ of acquiring asylum papers?

Well, from what we saw in the movie, it is essentially an exercise in futility. While the immigration officials appreciate that Edo is running away from a war-torn country, they insist that he must bring some value to his soon-to-be adoptive country. I can play African instruments, Edo offers.

We have a million and one such Africans here in Paris; we are looking for something unique, something special, comes the reply from the immigration officials.

Eventually, Babette helps Edo and his Congolese friends to put on a clown show, where they form a percussion band, using pots and pans, and using food items like sausages to hit the pans with. While the show attracts the attention of local newspapers, who pan it for its crassness, it does not impress immigration officials.

That particular scene painfully brings out the irony of Edo and his African brothers, playing with and wasting food while their folks are starving back in Africa.

Edo’s ‘love’ troubles have echoes of Millicent Akoth’s experience when she landed in Germany as an asylum seeker, in the early 90s. While Edo knows that getting married to a white woman is a sure ticket to him getting papers, Millie, then a hopeless romantic, puts love as a prerequisite to getting married.

Her African friends shook her back to reality with the following words:

Hapa Germany hakuna mapenzi.

She eventually grew out of her naïveté and got into a marriage of convenience, eventually getting her papers. Millie’s experiences are recorded in her memoir titled A Pillar of Hope.

Now, Charlotte Schiøler, the director of Maoussi has an interesting connection with Kenya. Karen Blixen, whose life in Kenya inspired the Hollywood blockbuster Out of Africa, is her great aunt. Asked how her family, back in Denmark, view Karen Blixen, she said that the family was not particularly fond of her when she was living in Africa, because her farming activities were not bringing in money and she had to rely on subsidies from her rich father.

“That explains why she had to go back to Denmark because her life in Kenya was unsustainable,” explained Charlotte. “Today, however, the family is very proud of her legacy.”

Charlotte’s debut feature film has garnered international acclaim across the world: Shanghai International Film Festival, Award of Excellence at NYC Winter Film Awards, Best Narrative Feature Film at London Cineverse and ITFF in Rome to mention a few.

The biggest takeaway for most African audiences, in my view, should be the immigration question and less on the little white mouse that features prominently in the movie.

Africans, based in Africa, would wonder how a grown African male, one that just landed from the motherland, no less, would fuss over a mouse, scratch that, a rat, and even attend its funeral!

Some things are enough for one to get banished from the clan.  

—Ngunjiri is the curator of Maisha Yetu, a digital Arts and Books media platform

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