Stephanie Linus’s award-winning film Dry, set in Kastina-Ala, Northern Nigeria, and Aberystwyth, Wales, tells the story of a Nigerian woman, Dr. Zara Robinson, who as a child experienced abuse, trafficking, rape, and abandonment but ended up having a career as a gynecologist in the United Kingdom after being adopted by a British physician. Her adoptive father visited Nigeria yearly to help provide health services to women with obstetric fistula, and for a long time Zara Robinson resisted returning to Nigeria because of the memories of her own horrific past of being abused, trafficked, raped, and abandoned after being diagnosed with obstetric fistula. Her mother’s illness, and the revelation of her having had a child as a result of the rape forced her to visit Nigeria.

But the visit to Nigeria that is portrayed in the film—which is a fictional rendering of real-life events—is full of surprises as she discovers that many women in Northern Nigeria are living with obstetric fistula with little or no health care. Her own daughter, Halima, whom she meets for the first time, is in a coma with obstetric fistula disease and dies in her mother’s arms. The heartbroken mother/physician then becomes an advocate for women who suffer from obstetric fistula, building a hospital and school in Kastina-Ala—the Halima Fistula Hospital and School of Education—specifically to provide treatment and education about the disease. The title Dry refers to the need to heal the obstetric fistula patients whose numbers are increasing in many regions around the world—to make them “dry” again by repairing them.

According to the World Health Organization, over two million women live with obstetric fistula in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Arab Region, Latin America, and the Caribbean; fifty to a hundred thousand new cases develop every year. The initial injury—which occurs during childbirth—as well as the obstetric fistula disease complications that follow are both preventable and curable. The film is aimed at educating women about the condition, advocating on behalf of the women who suffer in rural Northern Nigeria and elsewhere, and bringing their plight to the attention of the government and health organizations. Stephanie Linus, who wrote and directed the movie, and also plays the lead role of Zara Robinson, has lectured and received recognition throughout Africa, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where in May 2017 she gave the keynote address on the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.

Apart from addressing the issues of obstetric fistula, Dry contributes to contemporary feminist discourse by addressing issues such as child abuse, child marriage, child trafficking, domestic violence, polygamy, gender inequality, and resistance in Northern Nigeria. While some African feminist scholars have argued, with justification, that African women are too often depicted as oppressed, poor, and helpless, and therefore in need of assistance from the West, this film also portrays strong women who display personal agency.

It also features stylistic effects that juxtapose Western and African cultures and demonstrate a respect for both. This is mostly evident in the soundtrack that accompanies the Western and African scenes. In Kastina-Ala, for example, we hear traditional Hausa music, including shouts, dirges, drumming, communal call-and-response singing, and clapping. These joyous sounds mitigate the tale of trauma in their message of celebration and love. Similarly, the piano, woodwind, and string music that accompanies the scenes in Aberystwyth reminds us of the beauty of Western compositions. Indeed, as a result of the electronic effects used by the producers during editing, there is some similarity in both sounds, suggesting the ideal of cultural harmony. In one scene in Kastina-Ala, for example, we hear the music of an African flute whose sound has been “Westernized” by studio editing that reduces its hoarse and breathy tones. The transition from one culture to another is also ushered in by music; music of one culture is introduced toward the end of a scene to prepare viewers for the next scene elsewhere. The sounds of both cultures mingle compassion and bewilderment, pain and discomfort, stress and anxiety—all the complex moods and feelings that accompany illness and medical treatment. In this way music not only represents the best of humanity, but also aids in healing.