Priests of candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian spirit possession cult, increasingly demand recognition as a full-fledged religion to assert their voice in the public sphere of Salvador, Bahia, countering appropriation of their myths, symbols, and aesthetics by cultural entrepreneurs and tourists. While candomblé has been successful in these efforts, the demand comes at a price: 'religion' is a thoroughly Christian format, requiring all creeds that claim it to refashion themselves along that model.
An essay film shot in Bahia, Brazil, explores the mystery of spirit possession without exoticizing or explaining it away. By filming possession ceremonies in close-up, the images reveal that viewers cannot know what they are looking at. Words from the filmmaker and interlocutors drift into silence, laughter, or screaming, refusing to pin down the phenomenon. The film invites audiences to embrace confusion and, through that confusion, consider the possibility of spirits.