Film Production
Case Study
The Making of Portrait of an Unknown Woman Film (97mins): Exploring Post-Conflict Memory & Trauma.
Portrait of an Unknown Woman intimately explores post-conflict memory and trauma following the Nigeria-Biafra war (1967-70). Set in filmmaker Monalisa Chukwuma’s London flat and surroundings, and some ex-Biafran places, the narrative unfolds through tender conversations with her mother, Pearl Akuzie, a Biafran war survivor. Through long takes and cinematic blackness, we glimpse their complex bond, while evocative images of the Biafran landscape and testimonies from other survivors provide context to their shared story. The film brings personal voice and family history into dialogue with collective memory, shedding light on an event repressed in Nigeria’s official history.
As a work of postmemory, the response of the second generation to the trauma of the first (Hirsch, 2001), haunting, grief and mourning, Portrait of an Unknown Woman serves as a cinematic afterlife of Chukwuma’s mother’s stories, giving voice to her experiences through vicarious witnessing. It is a testament to film’s power in mediating memory and confronting the haunting legacies of war. The film was made during Chukwuma’s practice-based PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London (2020-2022).
Images from Portrait of an Unknown Woman Film
The Creative Vision
Inspiration behind the film
Filmmaker Monalisa Chukwuma was inspired to create Portrait of an Unknown Woman as a way to explore and make sense of her mother’s diary documenting her experiences during the Biafran war. She wanted to investigate how her mother’s experiences affected her, both as an individual and as a filmmaker. The film delves into the paradox of telling a story centred around loss, absence, and the often invisible yet pervasive impacts of trauma. This paradox lies in the challenge of representing and communicating experiences that are often suppressed, unspoken, or difficult to articulate. By bringing her mother’s suppressed memories into dialogue with the broader collective experience of Biafran war survivors, Chukwuma sheds light on a painful history that has long been overshadowed. This exploration of personal and collective trauma contributes to the broader discourse on memory, history, and the lasting impacts of war, emphasising the importance of giving voice to marginalised experiences and the role of film in mediating these narratives.
Personal connection to the story
As the daughter of survivors of the Biafran War who suffer from transgenerational trauma (the transference of trauma from the first generation of trauma survivors to the second and later generations through complex post-traumatic stress disorder mechanisms [PTSD]), Chukwuma has a deep personal connection to the story. The film is part of her private diary and an investigation of post-conflict memory and trauma, documenting her efforts to find peace in her roles as both a filmmaker and a daughter. By examining her responses to her mother’s diary and the testimonies of other war survivors, Chukwuma aims to understand her relationship with them and how it affects her. This personal connection influences the film’s intimate and reflective tone, as Chukwuma navigates the complexities of her own experiences and those of her family members.
Themes explored in the film
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Intersection of personal and collective histories
By bringing personal voice and family history into dialogue with the repressed memories of ordinary people, the film sheds light on an event that has long been overshadowed in Nigeria’s official history. It establishes Chukwuma as a postmemorial subject (an individual grappling with the inherited trauma and memories of a previous generation) trying to recuperate and understand her mother’s traumatic past, reinvesting distant political and cultural memorial structures with resonant individual and familial forms of mediation and aesthetic expression.
Post-conflict memory
The film interrogates both visible and invisible aspects of subjective traumatic memory, attending to personal and collective memories of the Biafran war survivors interviewed, Chukwuma’s mother’s traumatic past based on her war diary, and how her post-trauma relates to the filmmaker’s own transgenerational trauma.
Trauma and its long-term effects
Portrait of an Unknown Woman is concerned with the moral and psychological consequences of living with an irremovable trauma in the aftermath of war. It focuses on personal experiences and the effects of traumatic events on Chukwuma’s mother, the filmmaker herself, and the Biafran war survivors interviewed, and what it can elicit from the viewer or listener.
These three themes are interconnected in the film’s exploration of trauma, memory, and history, as Chukwuma navigates the complex relationship between personal experiences and collective narratives in the aftermath of the Biafran war.
Film’s Features
Portrait of an Unknown Woman employs a complex structure that weaves together narrative and non-narrative segments, creating a thought-provoking viewing experience. The film’s 97-minute runtime is punctuated by 25 minutes of black screen, which serves as a central element, expressing the feelings and emotions that cannot be captured through images alone. This interplay of absence and presence adds depth to the narrative, inviting the viewer to engage with the film on a deeper level.
The film is structured into 15 parts, anchored by the Prologue, which introduces the context and sets the tone for the entire work. Throughout the film, a variety of themes emerge, disappear, and reappear, including self-portrait and autobiography, interviews, landscapes, death and mourning, the horror of war, the oppressive nature of post and transgenerational trauma, silence and absence, loneliness and despair, the relationship between Biafra’s first and post-generation, and religion.
Rather than presenting these themes systematically, the film offers a tentative reflection, allowing the viewer to participate in an associative construction of meaning. The themes are interwoven and developed through associations, creating a non-linear narrative that challenges viewers to engage with the content critically.
The film’s authority lies in the experience presented by the filmmaker, Monalisa Chukwuma, who shares suppositions, sentiments, and opinions to stimulate the viewer’s own reflections.
Pre-Production
The pre-production stage of Portrait of an Unknown Woman began with Monalisa Chukwuma conducting fieldwork in Nigeria to gather historical information, interview individuals affected by the Nigeria-Biafra war, and visit her mother’s house. Chukwuma then developed a written narration to organise and structure the materials gathered, guiding the pre-production, filming, sound design, and editing of the film. This thoughtful approach to crafting the script helped shape the film’s unique structure and thematic content, showcasing Chukwuma’s creative vision. Finally, Chukwuma carefully selected key crew members who shared her passion for the project, ensuring a collaborative effort in bringing the film to life while maintaining high production standards.
Production
Filming Locations and Their Significance
Portrait of an Unknown Woman was filmed in locations of deep personal and historical significance, including Eastern Nigeria. These landscapes mediate traces of autobiography, identity, and memory while invoking the haunting history of the Biafran War. Filming also took place in London, reflecting the filmmaker’s inner landscape.
Challenges Faced During Production
Interviewing Biafran War survivors was emotionally charged for both participants and the filmmaker. Creating a safe space for sharing traumatic memories was crucial. A poignant moment occurred when survivor Enoch invited his grandson to sing and pray for the filmmaker’s protection and success.
Creative Choices
Cinematography and Visual Style
The film engages viewers directly through on- or off-screen address, providing critical commentary. Long sequences focus on Eastern Nigerian and London landscapes, vital in mediating memory and identity.
Sound Design and Score
A multi-layered, precise soundtrack of talking, walking, music, sounds, and silence creates a physical and affective viewing experience.
Post-Production
Editing Process: Crafting a Non-Linear Narrative
The editing process employed avant-garde techniques to construct a non-linear narrative, weaving together narrative and non-narrative forms. This approach allowed for a deep exploration of the film’s themes, including trauma, loss, and the intersection of personal and collective histories, moving between past and present, personal experiences, and collective memories.
Balancing Personal and Historical Elements
A key challenge was balancing personal and historical elements, intertwining Chukwuma’s mother’s war diary with collective narratives of Biafran War survivors. Scripted first-person voiceovers, auto ethnographic vignettes, constructed dialogues, and research findings create a rich tapestry highlighting the interconnectedness of individual experiences and shared trauma.
Music Composition and Soundtrack
The multi-layered, partially synchronized soundtrack relies on carefully selected, choreographed, and precise sound cues matched to visuals, cinematic blackness, and the film’s system of oppositions. Modulated sound strategies contribute to the viewer’s physical and affective experience.
The filmmaking process in Portrait of an Unknown Woman contributes to its overall impact and ability to engage viewers in exploring trauma, memory, and history. Chukwuma and her team’s creative choices, from the complex narrative to the evocative cinematography and sound design, create a powerful, emotionally resonant experience that challenges audiences to confront the lasting effects of war and the interconnectedness of personal and collective histories.
But if you ask me which of them takes the eagle-feather, I will say boldly: the story… Why? Because… It is the story that outlives the sound of war-drums and the exploits of brave fighters. It is the story… that saves our progeny from
blundering like blind beggars into the spikes of the cactus fence. The story is our escort; without it, we are blind.
Chinua Achebe, 1988, p. 74-75.
All of us, all of us who come from the world of women in the shadows, are reversing the process: at last, it is we who are looking, we who are making a beginning.
Assia Djebar, in Out of the Shadows (2021)
Women’s ambitions are limited by the absence of some empowering narratives from other women. I want to see more narratives of women and hopefully be instructed by them and instruct them back. As the daughter of a survivor whose Biafra war story formed the impetus for this study, the depiction of my struggle in this work belongs to the body of survivor discourse I am seeking.
MonaLisa ChukWuma
He who seeks to approach his own buried past must conduct himself like a man digging… He must not be afraid to return again and again to the same matter, to scatter it as one scatters earth, to turn it over as one turns over soil… For the matter itself is only a deposit, a stratum, which yields only to the most meticulous examination what constitutes the real treasure hidden within the earth: the images… that stand like precious fragments or torsos in a collector’s gallery − in the prosaic rooms of our later understanding.
Walter Benjamin, 1978, p. 26.
A story in Research
Press the button on the left to listen.
Portrait of an Unknown Woman is a deeply personal research project that explores the cinematic mediation of memory, trauma, and autobiography in the aftermath of state violence. Through fieldwork, including interviews with Biafran war survivors, a residency at the national war museum, and research filming, Chukwuma collected rich data to gain a deeper understanding of the traumatic memories of the Biafran war and its aftermath. She took a participatory, active role within the interviews, sharing information about herself to support the process of testimony and encouraging interviewees to tell their stories authentically. Alongside the collective memories of the Biafran war survivors, Chukwuma incorporated her mother’s diaristic self-portrait, meditating upon its significance in a way that defies chronological constraints. This research project exemplifies Monalisa Pictures’ commitment to authentic storytelling and impactful narratives that challenge stereotypes, foster empathy, and inspire positive change.
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