Duka’s Dilemma
A married mother of five, Duka enters a state of emotional turmoil when her husband marries again. Among the Hamar in Southern Ethiopia who live with herds and cultivate small fields of sorghum in their remote, bush-covered country, men are allowed to marry more than one wife, but few do. From dilemma to resolution, the complicated relationships between the wives, the husband and his mother are intimately investigated in the fourth film by Jean Lydall featuring Duka.
Directors
Jean Lydall
Jean Lydall, anthropologist and filmmaker. Studied in London at the LSE. Since 1970, has done ongoing research among the Hamar of Southern Ethiopia. Published two books on the Hamar in conjunction with Ivo Strecker.
Kaira Strecker
Kaira Strecker, camerawoman and filmmaker. Spent the first three years of life with her parents among the Hamar of Southern Ethiopia, and another year when she was eleven years old. In 1995 she helped her parents make Sweet Sorghum: an Ethnographers' Daughter Remembers Life in Hamar. Since then has worked on various student film projects and music videos, as well as becoming a mother. Duka's Dilemma, which she made with her mother, Jean Lydall, is her first major film, for which she did camera, sound and editing.