"Iron Ladies of Liberia" 

- A Review 

Monday, June 16, 2008

   By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh 

     A gentleman whom I have known for decades asked me this question the other day during a conversation I had with him about politics and the role of Liberian writers and filmmakers at home and abroad. “Why haven’t any of you written a book or made a film about our Liberian leaders and celebrities, the living and the dead?” he asked.

     He then went on to say that “with the ascension of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the presidency in 2006, and the death of political leader Gabriel Baccus Matthews in 2007, one would think Liberians would take on the awesome challenge of chronicling the lives of these great people into a book or film, but often sit back and watch while a European, American or some person from the African continent takes on the task Liberian should have played, which exposes you guys for what you are in many ways” A heck of an indictment, isn’t it?

     Not through with his blistering assault on those Liberian writers and filmmakers, he went on to say that after those books and films are written or made by those foreigners who hardly knows their subjects, that’s the time Liberians want to buy the books only to proudly quote from the materials to show how intellectually sophisticated they want others to believe they are.

     The gentleman made an interesting point I too have been pondering over the years about the literary emptiness in our society  – that Liberian writers and filmmakers haven’t stepped up to the plate to mass produce books and documentaries about the wealth of talents in the Liberian society, but are content reading books and watching Nigerian films and materials from other countries.

     Well, Siatta Scott Johnson of Omuahtee Africa Media want us to believe the opposite, that Liberian filmmakers are capable of getting past the stereotype by coming up with films and political documentaries that can teach us about our past and reminds us of the future we are jittery about, but are hopeful will not be like the ugly past that continues to haunt us.

     “Iron Lady of Liberia,” is one of those films capable of playing both roles. It is a documentary of pride and empowerment – female empowerment for that matter, national unity and national reconstruction, chronicling the rise of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as a strong-willed, no-nonsense “iron lady” who played hardball in the men’s sport of opposition politics to become the first elected female President of Liberia, and the first female to be elected president on the African continent, who brought onboard in her government intelligent and educated women to help her rebuild the country.

     According to the documentary, President Sirleaf is meeting the challenge of nation-building that engulfs her in a country devastated by a 14-year civil war where rampant corruption, gun-toting former rebels and ex-soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), continues to be much of a threat to her presidency than her political adversaries that would like to have her job.

     Siatta Scott Johnson introduces her viewers to the eerie war past and the sound of nerve-wreaking gun shots being fired in the air, or fired at innocent Liberians by gun-toting rebel teenagers whom we want to forget or we thought we had already forgotten, and also shows us a trashy and environmentally challenged country where war-weary citizens are reduced to beggars.

     While it is true that “Iron Ladies of Liberia” did not show Liberians anything new they didn’t already know about the civil war, about key players that terrorized the nation and its people during the civil war, about Liberian/American relationship that dates back to the 1800s, the documentary at least showed President Sirleaf presiding over cabinet meetings and addressing angry mob of ex-military officers seen fuming about not getting their government pension.

     The documentary highlights the president meeting and discussing Liberia's debt with World Bank officials; is seen talking on a cell phone handed to her by an aide to speak with the Justice Minister to release from prison activist Mulbah Morlu Jr, and is also seen meeting with Firestone workers, who are furious about not receiving a 37.5 percent pay raise promised them by the Taylor administration, which President Sirleaf did not give them, either. In another scene, former speaker of the House of Representatives, Edwin Snowe is seen playing the role of the opposition politician he is not.

     However, moviegoers will also be able to watch the president, who is being assisted by an unidentified lady engages in her most private moment wearing her make-up in preparation for her inauguration, or preparing for a trip to the United States and a visit to the White House to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush. The film captured the human side of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf never seen before by allowing viewers to watch her every move as if it were a reality show.

     President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf can be tough under fire and surely can operate under pressure, as her sibling Jenny Bernard clearly stated in the documentary, which is a plus for her as she operates in such stressful conditions in a dysfunctional nation.

     However, instead of blaming the civil war on Charles Taylor alone whom Siatta Scott Johnson said “spread chaos across Liberia and the region,” I wish Siatta Scott Johnson, who wraps herself around the story and embarrassingly became a part of the story by being a presidential cheerleader, presidential supporter, journalist, filmmaker and a victim while discussing her own land deal that went bad, instead, should have remained neutral, remained a filmmaker and should have also incriminated the president for her much-discussed role. She should have also incriminated the other rebel leaders whose roles are being discussed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission today.

     After watching the documentary, “Iron Lady of Liberia,” I want to encourage all Liberians and non-Liberian to find the time to buy the DVD, or go and see the film and not rely only on this review to reach any unjustifiable conclusion that could possibly prevent them from seeing it, because many eyes are better than my two eyes.