Moeder Suriname

In 2015, writer Tessa Leuwsha published Fansi’s stilte - een grootmoeder en de slavernij (Fansi's silence - a grandmother and slavery), a non-fiction book in which she talks about the history of Suriname and slavery through the life story of her grandmother Fansi. Leuwsha has now translated her book to film, resulting in a gripping documentary that uses unique archive material to portray Fansi's life. Her story runs from the abolition of slavery in 1863 to Suriname's independence in 1975. Singer Denise Jannah brings Fansi's voice to life.

Fansi grew up as a house slave in an abandoned village after being abandoned by her white mother and black father. At a young age, she becomes a mother herself and after being abandoned by her husband, she moves to Paramaribo so she can offer her children a better future. She is left alone when her children move to the Netherlands, only to go there herself in her last years of life. There she experiences what it means to be uprooted.