The First Woman

The First Woman follows Kirabo, a twelve-year-old girl growing up in the Ugandan village of Nattetta during the 1970s. Raised by her grandparents and surrounded by a large extended family, Kirabo is haunted by one question: who is her mother, and why did she leave? Determined to uncover the truth, she begins searching for answers despite the reluctance of the adults around her to discuss the past.

As Kirabo grows from childhood into adolescence, her search leads her beyond her village and into the wider world of family secrets, friendship, first love, and social expectations. Aided by Nsuuta, an eccentric and wise woman who teaches her about the legend of the "First Woman" and the original power of women, Kirabo begins to question the roles assigned to her by society and to explore what it means to become a woman in Uganda. Set against the backdrop of political upheaval and changing times, her journey gradually becomes not only a search for her missing mother but also a search for her own identity.