[Content]
The SUPERTEACHERS offers international celebrities in several different fields an opportunity to share their experience and wisdom with young people. In this episode, supermodel and activist Waris Dirie visits a school in Harlem, New York City. She talks about her roots as a nomadic Somali and how she left home to avoid an unwanted marriage. This led to her main topic, female genital mutilation (FGM), which is still a common practice in many parts of Africa. At first the students were shocked into silence but they slowly started to ask her questions.
After class, they interviewed people in the street, including some Africans. Few people would discuss it. They also visited the United Nations Population Fund, where Waris is a Special Ambassador. In a second class, the students debated the topic: should FGM be eradicated or should we respect cultures differing from our own? Should parents decide to perform FGM or should girls be allowed to decide for themselves? By the end of the class the students could discuss FGM openly and voice their opinions with conviction.

[Jury comments]
The film deals with an issue that has been taboo for many years in Africa and other parts of the world, and that is female circumcision, an ancient symbol of gender discrimination. The main character in the program, the young Somali woman, has a very charming personality. She is an intelligent, clever young woman who refuses to bow to her father's traditional beliefs and lust for wealth, which pushes him to suggest that she marry an old wealthy man. Instead she sets herself on a search for truth and takes the issue of outmoded traditions to a school in Harlem, New York, to discuss them with students. She actually turns out to be a superteacher. This is a strong documentary dealing with very hard issues. It has a lot of educational value. The film develops and becomes richer as it progresses. The program's richness lies in its very diversity. Although it was considered to be sentimental as far as the narration was concerned, the film brought two very different worlds, Somalia and Harlem, closer together to look at the issue of female circumcision. Through discussion the taboo gradually loses its power to intimidate.