Uzoamaka Power on “Siraam”: “We Have the Power to Decide What Kind of Relationship We Want With Our Bodies”

These days, everybody talks about sex. On the surface, it seems like progress. Especially when compared to the silence and stigma that surrounded the topic decades ago. But look a little closer, and it becomes clear that our openness has limits. Conversations about casual sex, one-night stands, sexual kinks or favourite positions attract laughter and curiosity. But that reaction quickly becomes judgement when someone admits that they’ve contracted an STI or slept with a few people in one night.  

It’s this selective progressiveness that Uzoamaka Power challenges with “Siraam.” The film follows Siraam, a young woman who turns to casual sex after a painful breakup. But this story is about a lot more than just sex. 

Siraam is like a lot of us, if not all of us. She has sex, and sometimes she weaponises it. Sometimes she uses it as a coping mechanism when she’s heartbroken or as a way to search for herself. I never wanted the story to become something that invited judgment or made sex feel like a dirty topic. What I wanted was to explore the life of a complete human being. One where sex is just one part of everything else she’s dealing with.

Director Uzoamaka Power guides lead actor Genoveva Umeh during a bedroom dialogue scene on the set of Siraam.

Like the other films in the Zikoko Life series, Siraam is inspired by a real-life story published on  Zikoko’s Sex Life vertical. But what drew Uzoamaka to the story wasn’t the young woman’s sex life; it was her honesty.

Rather than treating her experiences as shocking or scandalous, she spoke about them realistically. That honesty is the foundation for…