Lumo

UK premiere

The agonies of war-torn Africa are deeply etched in the bodies of women. In eastern Congo, vying militias, armies, and bandits use rape as a weapon of terror. Recently engaged to a young man from her village, 20-year-old Lumo Sinai can't wait to have children and start a family. But when she crosses paths with marauding soldiers who brutally attack her, she is left with a fistula - a condition that renders her incontinent and threatens her ability to give birth. Rejected by her fiancé and her family, Lumo finds her way to the one place that may save her, a hospital for rape survivors. Buoyed by the love of the hospital staff, including a formidable team of wise women known to all as "the Mamas," Lumo and her friends keep alive the hope of one day resuming their former lives, thanks to an operation that can restore them fully to health. A feisty young woman with a red comb perpetually jutting from her hair, Lumo faces the challenge of recovery with remarkable courage and sass.

The screening is preceded by a short play from the Royal Court Theatre's International Playwrights Programme: Quiet and We Hear! by Philip Luswata

A Q&A with the directors will follow the screening.