Return to the land of souls. A film by JORDI ESTEVA
In the 21st century many ancestral beliefs are struggling to survive in a hostile, fast-changing world. In southeast Ivory Coast, some Akan communities still make contact with the spirits through Komians or animistic priests who go into a trance and are possessed by the spirits of the Forest and the Waters. Jean Marie Addiaffi (1941-1999), a writer and intellectual from Ivory Coast, fought to conserve the Akans’ oral literature, myths and legends, and the knowledge and uses of the plants. In the film “Return to the land of souls”, Yéo Douley, a disciple of Jean Marie Addiaffi , will set out on a journey to visit his master’s grave and carry out a ritual libation. On his travel, he will attend the initiation rites of three people chosen by the spirits and witness one of them proclaimed as the new Komian or high animistic priest. Yéo travels from Aniansé to Bettié, and Arrah where he will find other friends, some old, and may be some new. Yéo sets the meanings in the context of an everchanging environment in modern-day Africa, based on dialogues and conversations with inhabitants – some staunch defenders of these practices and others totally opposed to what they see as pagan rites with no place in 21st-century Africa. This trip forms the backbone to a story that follows the protagonist on his travels. The screenplay acts as an open tool for his experiences and leaves the door open to whatever spontaneous experiences occur during this trip. Development of the screenplay took into account how the camera approaches what is being narrated, striking the right balance and contrast between theatmosphere of the animistic experience and travelling through the country. The screenplay makes it clear that the shots of animistic rites should give the impression of glimpsing a forbidden world, by foreshortening and trying to capture the essence of the moment as closely as possible.