The possibility of spirits

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Título: The possibility of spirits

Direção/Ano: Mattijs Van de Port/ 2016

Sinopse: What is it that you film when you film a spirit? Anthropologist Mattijs van de Port was brought up to believe that spirits do not exist. Spirits are mere figments of the imagination. People who believe in them have somehow missed out on the true nature of things. Years of research on Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion, taught him the limits of such euro-centric definitions of the possible and the impossible. Facing the reality of spirits in other people’s lives messed up his certainties. And yet, he also found himself incapable to become a ‘believer’. Refusing to choose between belief and disbelief, he embraced his not-knowing. He opted for being baffled. ‘The Possibility of Spirits’ is an essay film that seeks to keep the mystery of spirits centre stage. Borrowing from surrealist montage techniques, the estrangement effect of Brechtian theatre and a Brazilian taste for the genuinely made-up, it invites viewers to let themselves be confused and – in that confusion – consider the possibility of spirits. Mattijs van de Port works as a visual anthropologist at the University of Amsterdam and the VU University of Amsterdam. He has been doing research in Bahia, Brazil, since 2001.

Duração: 72 min