Demo - Irresistible

In the years between 1989 and 2003, violence became the currency of the West African nation of Liberia. Civilians were the casualties of the clashes between the autocratic President Charles Taylor and corrupt warlords; children were recruited as soldiers, women raped. Over 250,000 people were killed in the violence and thousands more displaced.

Out of these years of darkness comes an incredible yet largely ignored story of the women of Liberia, which director Gini Reticker highlights in her documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell. Screened as part of the Cineforum in London on March 30, Pray the Devil focuses on a back-story that possibly changed the face of Liberia: exhausted by a war in which they were abused by all factions, the women, be they Christian or Muslim, got together to fight for peace, with songs and white T-shirts as their only weapons.

The Initiative

The award-winning documentary pieces together the story of these women in a journalistic format, interspersing interviews with archival footage. We meet social worker Leymah Gbowee, whose story hurtles us to the middle of a conflict that could be about natural resources or power. For her, the reasons of this war are not important, its consequences are.

Gbowee has run away from guns, and unable to offer her son even the piece of doughnut that he wants, she reflects that the children of Liberia live to know only hunger or anger. This feisty woman is thus motivated to start the Christian Women’s Peace Initiative. Inspired by her work, police officer Asatu Bah Kenneth rallies Muslim women and forms the Liberian Muslim Women's Organization.

The two groups join hands to establish Liberian Mass Action for Peace; it is the first time that Muslims and Christians have come together in Liberia. This action is all the more significant because President Taylor is Christian; his opponents, the warlords, are largely Muslims. But the women do not allow religious differences to come between them. As Vaiba Flomo, the organization secretary, says: "Can a bullet pick and choose? Does a bullet know a Christian from a Muslim?"

Strategies for Peace
As part of their daily battle for peace, the women gather at a fish market in Liberia's capital Monrovia. Taylor’s convoy passes this market but the tyrant does not stop to talk with them even once.

Liberia, meanwhile, is wracked by war. Taylor, and the warlords who have come together under a coalition called Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, equip young boys with guns. Horrific acts of violence are everyday realities; one story mentioned in the documentary is of a woman raped in front of her husband and then forced to watch the rebels slash his neck.

The documentary does not linger on the violence but instead focuses on the women’s strategies: they ask the priests in the churches and the imams in the mosques to put pressure on Taylor and the warlords respectively to desist from fighting. They submit a peace statement to Taylor, which pertinently "demands" peace instead of appealing for it. As the pressure builds up, Taylor agrees to attend peace talks in Ghana in 2003. For good measure, some of the women follow Taylor to Ghana to make sure the talks are fruitful.

An End in Sight
For weeks, the talks drag on and the women suspect that the warlords, enjoying five-star hospitality possibly for the first time in their lives, are in no hurry to wrap up discussions. Fed up, the women form a barricade and do not allow the participants to leave the negotiating table till an agreement is reached.

This protest by these brave women, who could very well have been just target practice for Taylor’s boys or the warlords, goes unnoticed by a world that is focusing on the war in Iraq. Reticker’s documentary does the women justice but regrettably, she has to rely on photographs to describe their actions; no television crew seems to have been present to record one of the most inspiring stories of our time.

In August 2003, Taylor flees Liberia but not before threatening, "God willing, I will be back." In the elections held in Liberia, after the United Nations mission started disarmament, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is elected as the Liberian President. She is Africa’s first elected female head of State and it is on this uplifting note that the documentary ends.

The Last Word
To mention this documentary's shortfalls would seem tantamount to being too fussy; Pray the Devil Back to Hell does us an incredible service by merely introducing us to the story of Liberian women. Yet, it is difficult to shy away from pointing to what the documentary fails to achieve.

Though the voices of the women who spearheaded the movement propel the documentary forward, disappointingly enough, we learn very little about their lives or personal histories. It also rankles that no explanation is given as to why Taylor or the warlords did nothing to stop these women. Both parties were ruthless in the war. What stopped them from attacking the women and attempting to crush the movement?

At 72 minutes, the documentary cannot or chooses not to dwell on these questions. These are but minor quibbles. Pray the Devil Back to Hell is an engrossing documentary that pays tribute to the idea that real power need not always flow from the barrel of a gun.

Title: Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Director: Gini Reticker

Producer: Abigail E Disney

Year: 2008

Genre: Documentary