I Am Not a Witch, a 2017 feature directed by Rungano Nyoni is not based on any classic fairy tale but it totally has the aesthetic and style of one. Much like A Monster Calls, it's a story set in a discernably modern world told through the prism of a fairy tale, complete with exaggerated visual means of representing the interior struggles of the protagonist. That protagonist in I Am Not a Witch is Shula (Maggie Mulubwa), a young girl accused by local villagers of being a witch! Their evidence, which includes one guy saying that he saw Shula commit horrific misdeeds...in a dream, isn't great but Shula is eventually designated as a witch and brought to a camp full of much older witches.
Each of these witches, including Shula, is kept in an area where they're used to gather crops as well as be the center of a tourist attraction. These witches are kept together by a long white ribbon tied across their chest and connected to a large spool. There's only so far they can go before they're drawn back into the male-dominated society that's deemed them less than human. This piece of symbolism is one of the most clever aspects of Nyoni's screenplay in so many ways, including in how it feels like something you'd stumble onto in an actual old-timey fairy tale. Nyoni is taking fixtures of old children's literature and using them to provide social commentary that's timeless in any area.
Specifically, those long ribbons are a comment on how traditional patriarchal societies keep women restricted. These witches, like women in actual societies, are afforded a finite level of freedom. Even a woman married to a high-ranking member of the government, who seemingly has it all as she lives in her luxurious mansion, is secretly a witch still tied down by this ribbon. That white ribbon, much like systemically-ingrained misogyny, is everywhere. I Am Not a Witch finds inventive ways of conveying that concept while maintaining the atmosphere of a classical symbolism-rich fairy tale. Rungano Nyoni's writing, as well as her direction, impressively balances these two approaches.
In addition to classic fairy tales, Nyoni's work on I Am Not a Witch also reminded me of The Florida Project. Specifically, both wring emotionally melancholy tales told through the point-of-view of little girls. These protagonists are much too young to fully understand what's happening around them but they still understand that something's askew. In other words, they're so close to being able to grasp why their world's been turned upside down but their reality remains frustratingly out of reach. In the context of I Am Not a Witch, Shula is way in over her head as she navigates a world that's already deemed her a monster simply because of her personality. A scene where Shula curls up in the corner of a small enclosed space while tourists gawk at her proves to be an especially poignant depiction of this experience.
How else could a child respond to all that Shula has been through? Though a child, Shula still understands that what's happening to her is wrong. Fighting it is far too daunting. Retreating away from this toxic world is the only option. All of these weighty and moving ideas are conveyed just through Nyoni's camerawork as well as the remarkably effective lead performance from Maggie Mulubwa. Boy does Mulubwa ever bring stirring work in the lead role, just her pained facial expressions convey so much about what's going on inside the mind of Shula at any given moment. Though it's channeling classic fairy tales, Mulubwa's impressive acting epitomizes how I Am Not a Witch manages to stand out by shining on a light on recognizably down-to-Earth human experiences.
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