The age of the women’s lib movement has come a long way since the fifties when fighting for the right to vote and work outside the home were things that seemed so far away. Women in the United States today are corporate executives, teachers, business owners, and top political figures. They have power and authority over so much that there is absolutely no difference any longer between genders except sometimes for looks. In some other countries around the world though; women don’t have nearly as many freedoms and are often held down from reaching higher plateaus and even getting something that everyone should be allowed to obtain…an education.
Sophia is a young woman that looks to have a grand career in the medical field ahead of her. She has the ambition, patience, and the want to learn everything that needs to be learned about medicine and asks nothing more then the freedom to do so and get her education. The problem is that she lives in Mozambique where the idea of a woman getting an education is not one that is looked at very highly. Actually when a female wants to go to school, it is “like watering another man’s garden” since a woman’s place should be in the home. Sophia gets no support from her family in the form of moral or monetary, but that doesn’t stop her from living out her dream.
Sadly things get even harder her for when she does arrive in school and gets nothing but more issues to deal with from those that should be helping her. One professor she had has died of AIDS which is not uncommon for her country since most of it is overrun by the disease. Another professor has an eye for Sophia and wants a lot more from her than the work she puts in, but she is simply unwilling to give up on her morals or her ambitions. Meanwhile, Sophia’s boyfriend is also telling her the way she should act and be so that she can serve him properly making the weight on her shoulders that much heavier. Sophia is determined not to let her life be run simply by the sex she was born and little did she realize that she would get help from those that have gone through the exact same things she has.
Another Man’s Garden arrived on my doorstep and it was received with not only confusion but a tad bit of uncertainty. I had never heard of the film so it surely wasn’t one I had asked for. Reading the back of the cover art, I’ll admit that my assumptions and perceptions got the best of me and it seemed liked something that was not going to be enjoyable or even worth watching. While it wasn’t earth-shattering or anything, Another Man’s Garden is highly enlightening and overly moving. It is simply amazing how difficult life is for those that don’t live within the United States or even in some other major country. Things may not be the same for anyone outside of the States, but a lot of countries at least allow freedom and equal opportunities to all genders. Sophia’s journey is an example of just how difficult things are in her country for people like her and unless more speak up and act against it, then changes will never arrive.
The film is shown in Full Screen format and it looks very, very old at times and rather cheaply made at others. Parts of it look as if they were filmed with handheld cameras and it comes to be expected that this would not look very good considering the budget was probably rather low. Colors are good though and nothing is too bad.
The film is heard in Stereo Sound and it isn’t the best in the world either but comes through fine for the mostly dialogue-driven film. Another Man’s Garden is presented in Portuguese with English subtitles that are actually rather large and take up a good portion of the screen.
Discussion Guide – Entering this DVD into a computer’s DVD-ROM drive accesses a PDF file that gives topics of discussion as related to the film in regards to: Director’s Notes, Director Biography, and About Mozambique.
Global Lens Showcase – This feature has posters for all the films appearing at the festival and gives a brief text description of each of them.
Global Lens 2007 Series Trailer
Coming from a strictly DVD standpoint, not a lot works here. The special features are anything special as they tell some about the Global Lens Showcase and then the rest is simply reading material and if you don’t have a computer (which is rare), then you can’t see it. And as for this being a film that you’d watch over and over again; well, it doesn’t have that going for it either. So unless you can find it on the cheap, which I doubt seriously, then you may want to go with a rental only here. Another Man’s Garden tells a very good and inspirational story that should be watched by all and taken into full consideration that this stuff really is happening in our world today. Sophia’s tale is one of turmoil, tragedy, trouble, and ultimately triumph as she would not give up on her dream and would not let anyone stand in her way. Besides the bad production values, the obvious lack of acting skills, and sometimes awful dialogue, this is a film that shows how behind some parts of the world are and that there are still those willing to take a stand.
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First Run Features presents Another Man’s Garden. Directed by: Jose Candido de Carvalho. Starring: Gigliola Zicara, Evaristo Abreu. Running time: 80 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: January 20, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
