Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

See what’s playing
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti
7.9
/10
1,091 Ratings

DIVINE HORSEMEN: THE LIVING GODS OF HAITI

Directed by Maya Deren, Cherel Ito, Teiji Ito
United States, 1977
Documentary

Synopsis

A documentary film about dance and possession in Haitian voodoo that was shot by experimental filmmaker Maya Deren between 1947 and 1952 and edited and completed after her death. Most of the film consists of images of dancing and bodies in motion during rituals in Rada and Petro services.

Synopsis

A documentary film about dance and possession in Haitian voodoo that was shot by experimental filmmaker Maya Deren between 1947 and 1952 and edited and completed after her death. Most of the film consists of images of dancing and bodies in motion during rituals in Rada and Petro services.

Our take

Maya Deren’s film-poem was made with her footage of Haitian Voodoo rituals involving dance and possession, and includes excerpts from her book on the subject. Influenced by Surrealism, Deren conceived the film as a series of dream-like sequences, revealing the merging of art and ethnography.