1. Female healers in Kenya

A woman healer reading from an empty notebook, and writing invisibly in it, are two of the remarkable scenes in this fascinating documentary about African healing practices. Other marvels include diagnosis by tobacco reading; extraction of an evil presence from the body by a symbolic arrow, which is then shot away; and divination by reading calabash seeds. In Nairobi, the film records the healing deeds of Mara Akatza, to whose church hundreds flock each week.

2. Sangoma

From Transkei to Swaziland, from the modern cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town to the remotest rural areas of South Africa, the word sangoma is ambiguous. For some, it epitomises wisdom and respect. For others, it conjures witchcraft. This documentary is the story of Makosi Nomsa Dhlamini, a celebrated sangoma from Soweto, and her education of a new young sangoma.

3. Female and Male Initiation

Amidst the fast continuing development of modern South Africa, traditional African initiation and passage rituals continue to bond communities and provide meaning, albeit somewhat at odds with such values of a constitutional democracy that upholds gender equality. Young males are sent out to the bushes nude and covered by ashes to purify themselves.

Young women come from the city to be taught in the villages by the elder women the traditional sexual initiation rituals.

4. Fire walking in South Africa

This is a revealing look at the ritual of faith practised by some Indian South Africans, who offer vows to their gods (drophati) by walking on burning ashes. The ceremony begins at the river, where the chosen participants fall into a trance and pierce their bodies. Then they proceed to the temple, where they face their most difficult challenge: a walk over a bed of burning ashes.

5. Kavadi, the piercing ceremony

Each year in February, thousands of Indians from the Tamil community in Durban take part in the Kavadi ceremony. This is among the most fascinating and profound spiritual rites in the country. Women and men fall into a state of trance and, in honour of Lord Muraga, pierce their bodies using long needles, which draw no blood.

Documentary Series
5 x 26’
Betacam
English

Director
Alberto Lannuzi & Antonio Falduto

Producer
Zebra X

Year of Production
2005