Oema foe Sranan (Women of Suriname) is the first documentary about Suriname spoken in Sranantongo during the years surrounding independence. The film follows four women, Jetty, Sonja, Somai, and Sylvie, who resist being overlooked and exploited. Through their personal stories, they shed light on the history of colonialism, neocolonialism, and discrimination in Suriname and the Netherlands. The causes of poverty are illustrated through quotes from "We Slaves of Suriname" by Anton de Kom, a book which has been included in the Dutch Canon.
It is a denouncement of the role of the Netherlands as a colonizer and of foreign companies that enrich themselves while leaving the country impoverished. The film shows a fighting people instead of a suffering people. Oema foe Sranan is a political film, the result of solidarity between Surinamese and Dutch people.
The documentary was produced by Cineclub Vrijheidsfilms in collaboration with LOSON (National Organization of Surinamese in the Netherlands). In 2021, Eye decided to restore it in collaboration with the IISG.
Along with the restoration of Oema foe Sranan, a short documentary titled "Strijd op 16mm" (Struggle on 16mm) was produced, capturing the stories about the production and screening of this underexposed activist film. This short documentary is used as an introduction to the restored film Oema Foe Sranan (1978).