Making Rain

The Vumba Hills in central Mozambique close to the Zimbabwe border are the kingdom of Mambo Chief Chirara The Mambos leading position is acknowledged by the government and in addition to being the regions most important spiritual leader the Mambo has the right to hold court cases that deal with minor crimes problems involving spirits and domestic affairs He is assisted by several subchiefs and ritual leaders In the northernmost corner of the Mambos kingdom Mbuya Gondo an over 70yearsold woman is a spiritual medium She often holds ceremonies at a wellknown rock drawing site Mambo Chirara is not pleased with the old ladys activities In his opinion Mbuya Gondo acts too independently and demands too much money for carrying out the ceremonies In the film gender issues and local politics are brought to the surface as we follow these two leaders during a period of preparing for and performing the annual rainmaking rituals