Waigwa Wachira Movies

A doctor finds herself torn between science and spirituality in this atmospheric drama. Samehe (Amandina Lihamba) is a middle-aged woman who had been admitted to a psychiatric facility for women in East Africa; no one seems to know what's wrong with her, and no one is in a hurry to change that, especially Dr. Moshi (Thecla Mjatta), the self-centered head of the hospital known for his sexually aggressive attitude toward his patients. Second in command Dr. Odhiambo (Waigwa Wachira) is more compassionate, but can only do so much. Dr. Asira (Barbara O) is a doctor who was close friends with Odhiambo when they were both medical students; Asira has signed on as a member of the hospital's volunteer staff, and she develops a keen interest in Samehe's case. Samehe, who has been silent and under sedation since she was admitted, suddenly opens up to Asira, declaring that the new doctor was brought to her by Maangamizi (Mwanajuma Ali Hassan), a shaman and spiritual teacher only Samehe can see or hear. At first, Asira is certain that Samehe is delusional and can be successfully treated through psychotherapy, but in time the doctor wonders if there might be a kernel of truth in Samehe's story -- and if she might be ignoring her own spiritual dilemmas which conflict with the Western medical disciplines she has embraced. Maangamizi: The Ancient One features a score composed and compiled by Cyril Neville of the popular rhythm and blues group the Neville Brothers. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Gorillas in the Mist is based on the autobiographical 1983 book by naturalist Dian Fossey. Before the book could be brought before the cameras, Fossey had been mysteriously killed; her death provides a logical, if somewhat ghoulish climax to the film. A Kentucky girl, Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) is inspired by famed anthropologist Louis Leakey (Iain Cuthbertson) to devote her life to the study of primates. Traveling into deepest Africa, Fossey becomes fascinated with the lives and habits of the rare mountain gorillas of the Ugandan wilderness. Studying them at close quarters, Fossey develops a means of communicating with the gorillas, and in so doing becomes obsessed with the beasts' well-being. She is so devoted to "her" mountain that she loses the opportunity for a romance with a National Geographic photographer (Bryan Brown). Appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, Fossey complains to the Ugandan government, which dismisses her by explaining that poaching is the only means by which some of the Ugandan natives can themselves survive. She refuses to accept this, and becomes a militant animal-rights activist, burning down the poachers' villages and even staging a mock execution of one of the offenders. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi