Educational Media Reviews Online

In 2009 Jessica Vale, an American documentary director, was in Liberia working on a documentary about US surgeons in post-war countries when the project was abruptly put on hold. Because she found herself stuck in a Liberian hospital she began hanging out in the women’s ward and that is where she met Olivia & Bendu. Nine year old Olivia presented at the JFK hospital, known as Just for Killing Hospital, severely malnourished because of two years of chronic diarrhea. Olivia’s mother, Bendu was from Todee, Liberia, a small village outside capital city of Monrovia and had been keeping Olivia hidden, believing that her illness was caused by witchcraft. When Olivia’s condition became life threatening Bendu brought her daughter into Monrovia for medical care. During examination the doctors discover that Olivia’s condition was a result of having been raped at age 7 by her 20 year old cousin. In a country where 60 percent of rape victims are children between ages 5 and 13 it is considered good luck to rape a child. A gender-violence specialist says in an interview, “They do it for ritual purposes, to get money, to get a job.”

Olivia’s condition required immediate surgery to intervene with the bowel problems. This required a colostomy which would allow her to eat without soiling herself and allow her to build her strength. She would need an unknown number of surgeries to repair the all of the damage from the rape which would have to wait until she was older. Vale follows the attempts at reconciliation with the family in Todee, Bendu’s pregnancy, attempts at building a life in Monrovia, and finally Bendu abandoning Olivia to return to her village, leaving her in the charge of one of the doctors. Because of an infection following an unauthorized surgery Olivia Zinnah died at age 12 of complications from her rape injuries. Small Small Thing is her story.

More than three years in the making, Vale does a sensitive and thorough job of detailing Olivia’s medical struggles, her mother’s ambivalence regarding the rape, and the norms and the taboos of the Liberian culture in this documentary. She reveals the details through interviews with medical workers, social workers, and survivors to piece together the complexities of the #1 crime in Liberia. She also speaks to the men who have raped women and children, at least one of whom believes his attitude of entitlement is a result of having been at war and having been given women to use when he was a soldier.

Post-war issues are a theme throughout the documentary including poverty, lack of needed schools, ineffectual laws, a country divided in two, Monrovia and the bush, and children living on the street engaging in prostitution to survive. Vale does not pull any punches and as she airs footage of the Monrovian slums, the children abandoned to the hospital staff, child prostitutes and the police who are powerless to intervene.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work on women’s issues. “My administration shall empower Liberian women in all areas of our national life, We will support and increase the writ of laws that restore their dignity and deal drastically with crimes that dehumanize them. We will enforce, without fear or favor, the law against rape recently passed.” – Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (2005), however the battle is not won.

The photography and cinematography is artfully done and illustrates well the storyline. Where the English of the speakers is difficult to understand, subtitles are provided. It is worth noting that Vale also co-wrote the soundtrack for Small Small Thing with composer Jean-Luc Sinclair. It is a worthy purchase for libraries that support classes or coursework in women’s studies, African studies, post-war issues, anthropology, human rights, and gender studies. It would be a good purchase for a public library that collects documentaries, as well.

Awards

• 2014 Rated SR Film Festival, New York, NY: Winner, Grand Jury Prize Best Feature Film; Winner, Women Film Critic’s Circle Award; Winner, Vanya Exerjian Award