The Possibility of Spirits
Journal of Anthropological Films March 1, 2019 DOI: 10.15845/jaf.v1i1.1316 via DOAJ
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAn 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.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Candomblé Essay film Spirits Bahia Brazil |
| Key finding | The essay film argues that spirit possession can be approached through confusion and poetic imagery, avoiding both exoticization and reductive explanation. |
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.