The Possibility of Spirits
Journal of Anthropological Films March 1, 2019 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.15845/jaf.v1i1.1316 via DOAJ
Summary
An essay film shot in Bahia, Brazil, keeps the baffling mystery of spirit possession center stage. Through a poetic assemblage of images and words, it offers an alternative to documentaries that either exoticize possession in spectacular imagery or extinguish wonder in explanatory prose. Possession ceremonies are filmed in close-up, but the images reveal that we do not know what we are looking at. Words drift out of meaning, becoming silence, laughter, or screaming. The film invites viewers to be confused and consider the possibility of spirits.
Study at a glance
| Design | essay film |
|---|---|
| Key finding | The film argues that spirit possession should be presented as an irreducible mystery, resisting both exoticization and explanatory reduction. |
Abstract
What is it that you film when you film a spirit? Shot in Bahia (Brazil), The Possibility of Spirits is an essay film that keeps the baffling mystery of spirit possession center stage. In a poetic assemblage of images and words, it offers an alternative for the kind of documentary that either exoticizes spirit possession in spectacular imagery, or extinguishes the wonder of the phenomenon in explanatory prose. Possession ceremonies are filmed in close up, but the images first and foremost reveal that we don't know what it is that we are looking at. Words -- of the filmmaker, as well as of his interlocutors -- are allowed to drift out of meaning. Trying to grasp the phenomenon, they become silence, or laughter, or screaming. Paying tribute to the extra-ordinariness of its subject matter, this film invites viewers to allow themselves to be confused and -- in that confusion -- consider the possibility of spirits.