Sembene Ousmane, the 81-year-old father of Senegalese cinema if not African cinema itself, directly confronts the scourge of female genital mutilation in "Moolaade." Men clinging to the ancient tradition, supported in their minds by religion, come up against not only wives no longer willing to expose daughters to the life-endangering practice but the condemnation of educated men and women, who view the ritual as barbarous. More festival dates are a cinch, but theatrical exposure may not go much beyond a few high-end art houses.

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