To win the favor of Mami Wata, one must be clean and sweet-smelling both inside and out. Worshipers bathe and drink talcum powder before approaching her altar, neatly decorated with fruit, shells ...

Shot in transfixing black-and-white by Lílis Soares, director C.J. “Fiery” Obasi’s Sundance sensation beguiles with family tensions and spiritual dimensions.

C.J. 'Fiery' Obasi's third feature, which won the Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Prize in Cinematography, weaves the lore of a water deity into a propulsive narrative of village change.

A rebellion begins to simmer, preparing the way for an emerging era. In “Mami Wata,” the archetypes are familiar, but they work to make this Nigerian film a distinctly economical masterpiece.