Similar to her previous two features as a solo director, “Chez Jolie Coiffure” and “The Two Faces of a Bamiléké Woman,” Rosine Mbakam’s latest doc gives an underrepresented woman the space and time to tell her own story. Set in a single room, “Delphine’s Prayers” is a compassionate portrait of a woman who has lived many lives in her 30 years, sitting down and chatting with her friend Rosine — and with us, the audience.
Like the filmmaker herself, Delphine is a Cameroonian immigrant living in Belgium. She is also a former sex worker and a survivor of sexual assault. Woman, person of color, immigrant, sex worker, rape survivor: these are identities that society tends to marginalize if not ignore or outright reject. “Delphine’s Prayers'” willingness to engage with these aspects of Delphine’s experience — and many more — packs quite a powerful punch, in spite of its extremely simple setup.
There is no judgment in this documentary, only kindness and a willingness to listen. As with “Chez Jolie Coiffure,” we occasionally hear Mbakam from off-camera, asking a follow-up question or giggling at a joke, but the vast majority of “Delphine’s Prayers” is comprised of Delphine verbalizing her thoughts, memories, desires, hopes, and her own inner monologue. Sometimes she’s hard on herself — she’s both ashamed and defensive about her sex work, for example — but Mbakam and her camera’s gaze function only from a place of empathy.
So often, when we discuss the struggles of women, the Black community, immigrants, survivors, sex workers, and other underrepresented identities, we get bogged down in the ideology and theory and overlook the actual people affected. “Delphine’s Prayers” doesn’t let us do that. The film is aware that the obstacles Delphine has faced are emblematic of systemic discrimination, but its first and foremost loyalty is to Delphine herself. She is not a symbol; she is her own person telling us her own story on her own terms.
“Delphine’s Prayers” starts playing tomorrow, October 8, at BAM in Brooklyn, as part of the film series Portraits and Prisms: The Films of Rosine Mbakam. It will expand to additional theaters in the coming weeks. Find screening info here.
