If Vagina Had Teeth: The Shona Rainmaking Ceremony in Western Mozambique
HomePage
Overview
"Ritual reversals" or "rituals of rebellion" are concepts used for mock rituals performed in Southern and Eastern Africa. During fertility rituals, like rain ceremonies, women in their songs and dances demonstrate obscene behaviour while they behave like men. These are secret performances open strictly for elderly men and women. Still, we were invited to record the rain making ceremony in the land of Chief Chassuka, Manika Province in Mozambique, in order to document the ritual for the younger generations. These rituals are a fading tradition probably due to the special character of the songs and dances.
Release Date
2009-03-26
Average
0
Rating:
0.0 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
Keywords
Similar Movies
Lord of the Dance/Destroyer of Illusion(en)
The documentary focuses on the annual Mani Rimdu festival of Tibet and Nepal, an event which encapsulates the Himalayan Buddhist experience.
The Rusalia Customs of Gevgelija(mk)
A testimony to the performance of ritual dances. Although they were performed only during the so-called “unbaptized days”, the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany in the Orthodox Christianity, these dances are associated by some researchers with the Roman rosaries, the cult of the dead. Ritual clothing and the use of wooden swords to disperse the demons are important props in the dances that are believed to protect the folks from temptations and demons until they are baptized.
Sacred(en)
Sacred explores cultural and religious ritual as it relates to life’s cycles: birth, adolescence, marriage, aging and other key passages of life.
The Story of the Weeping Camel(mn)
When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.
Africa Uncensored(it)
Documentary film making at its best as it narrates very exotic and esoteric rituals of the primitive peoples of Africa.
An immersion into the Divine Feminine(en)
By drawing a parallel between the Indian Durga Puja festival and other forms of celebrating the divine feminine, Santa Shakti reveals the Sacred Power beyond languages and religions.
Drums from the Past(fr)
Filmed in May 1971 in Niger, this short documentary records a possession ritual performed by the Simiri people in response to a locust invasion. The ceremony centers on the beating of the archaic drums Tourou and Bitti, used to invoke spirit forces through music, dance, and trance. Shot in a single continuous take, the film documents a concentrated moment of collective ritual practice, reflecting Jean Rouch’s first-person ethnographic approach and direct participation in the event.
Wheel of Time(de)
Wheel of Time is Werner Herzog's photographed look at the largest Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya, India.
Here We Come A-Wassailing(en)
A documentary on the surviving syncretic pagan midwinter customs of the British Isles, focusing on nine ritual celebrations ranging from the Moray Firth in the north, the Somerset Levels in the south, Humberside in the east, and County Kerry in the west. Featuring music by the Albion Band and narration by John Tams.
The Occult Experience(en)
An examination of occultism as practiced in different parts of the world.
Savage Man Savage Beast(it)
A notorious mondo film depicting unbelievable and bizarre rituals, animal killing and cruelty, and people being killed and eaten, all by either animals or humans against each other or themselves.
Mueda, Memory and Massacre(pt)
Mueda was a massacre. The name is that of the village in Northern Mozambique where in 1960 it took place. The Portuguese colonial regime did the killing. In independent Mozambique, those inhabitants of Mueda who survived regularly re-enact the massacre in situ. They themselves play the roles of victims, assassins, and spectators. Ruy Guerra, now a Brazilian but born in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo, the capital of Mozambique), filmed this extraordinary creation of liberated popular culture, intercutting it with first-hand interviews on the massacre. The mix is compelling, and the grave yet joyous spectacle unique.
Journey Into the Beyond(de)
Mondo-style shockumentary about various aspects of the occult and paranormal. An investigation into the fringes of psychic spirituality with so-called experts, it includes demonic possession, exorcism, seances, Voodoo ceremonies, hypnotism, ESP, psychic surgery, and more. A warning bell alerts squeamish viewers to avert their eyes from the more graphic scenes.
Psychic TV: First Transmission(en)
For over 30 years, the so-called First Transmission video from Psychic TV, has been the stuff of, well, “snuff film” legend. First advertised in the back pages of Thee Grey Book , The First Transmission was an ultra weird touchstone of the underground VHS tape trading scene of the 1980s.
New Guinea: Island of Cannibals(it)
Mondo-style documentary in which a movie crew travels to newly independent Papua New Guinea to capture the customs and culture of the cannibal natives. Prepare yourself for death rituals, war costumery, crude tattoos, animal killings, and cannibalism.
Carving Thy Faith(tl)
A five-year visual ethnography of traditional yet practical orchestration of Semana Santa in a small town where religious woodcarving is the livelihood. An experiential film on neocolonial Philippines’ interpretation of Saints and Gods through many forms of rituals and iconographies, exposing wood as raw material that undergoes production processes before becoming a spiritual object of devotion. - A sculpture believed to have been imported in town during Spanish colonial conquest, locally known as Mahal na Señor Sepulcro, is celebrating its 500 years. Meanwhile, composed of non-actors, Senakulo re-enacts the sufferings and death of Jesus. As the local community yearly unites to commemorate the Passion of Christ, a laborious journey unfolds following local craftsmen in transforming blocks of wood into a larger than life Jesus crucified on a 12-ft cross.
Tales of Sand and Snow(fr)
In a quest to rediscover the spiritual values of his own people, an African filmmaker from the Gourmantche tribe of Burkina Faso visits an Aboriginal band, the Atikamekw of northern Quebec. The resulting documentary is a dialogue between those who divine the future in the sand with those who use snow-encased sweat lodges to reconnect with the spiritual world.
Charles Manson, The Church of Satan, The Universal Order & The Process Church of Final Judgment(en)
Out of the spiritual chaos of the 1960s, more strange cults and unorthodox messiahs have emerged than ever. Charles Manson is seen as the annoying result of libertarianism of the 1960s - the Cain who murdered the Abel from The Love Generation. Or in the words of one commentator; "the Elvis of alienation."
The Beaning(en)
An experimental documentary exploring a sinister theory surrounding the death of Cleveland baseball player Ray Chapman in 1920 and the subsequent rise of the Yankee dynasty.
Recommendations Movies
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library(en)
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
Birth of the Living Dead(en)
A behind the scenes look into George Romero's groundbreaking horror classic Night of the Living Dead.
One Mile: Chapter Two(en)
Former special forces operative Danny is forced back onto a remote island when a violent, secretive community takes revenge by abducting his daughter Alex, launching a relentless hunt against enemies prepared for his every move.
Superheroes(en)
A journey inside the world of real life caped crusaders. From all over America, these self-proclaimed crime fighters, don masks, homemade costumes and elaborate utility belts in an attempt to bring justice to evildoers everywhere.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1(en)
An assassin is shot by her ruthless employer, Bill, and other members of their assassination circle – but she lives to plot her vengeance.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century(en)
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
The Dogs of War(en)
Mercenary soldiers Jamie and Drew are hired by a large corporation to liberate Zangaro, a small African nation, from an despot. Havoc ensues.
Our Planet: Behind the Scenes(en)
Years spent recording footage of creatures from every corner of the globe is bound to produce a bit of drama. Here's a behind-the-scenes look.
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple(en)
Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.
In Search of the Last Action Heroes(en)
The most comprehensive retrospective of the '80s action film genre ever made.
Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show(en)
“Showrunners” is the first ever feature length documentary film to explore the fascinating world of US television showrunners and the creative forces aligned around them. These are the people responsible for creating, writing and overseeing every element of production on one of the United State’s biggest exports – television drama and comedy series. Often described as the most complex job in the entertainment business, a showrunner is the chief writer / producer on a TV series and, in most instances, the show’s creator. Battling daily between art and commerce, showrunners manage every aspect of a TV show’s development and production: creative, financial and logistical.
Zeitgeist: Moving Forward(en)
A presentation of a case for a needed transition out of the current socioeconomic monetary paradigm which governs the entire world society. This subject matter will transcend the issues of cultural relativism and traditional ideology and move to relate the core, empirical 'life ground' attributes of human and social survival, extrapolating those immutable natural laws into a new sustainable social paradigm called a 'Resource-Based Economy'.
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau(en)
The story of the insane scandals related to the remake of “Island of Dr. Moreau” —originally a novel by H. G. Wells—, which was brought to the big screen in 1996. How director Richard Stanley spent four years developing the project just to find an abrupt end to his work while leading actor Marlon Brando pulled the strings in the shadows. Now for the first time, the living key players recount what really happened and why it all went so spectacularly wrong.
God Is a Bullet(en)
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.
Tarzan and the Mermaids(en)
A high priest tries to force a young beauty to marry a pearl trader who is masquerading as the god Balu.
Naqoyqatsi(en)
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead(en)
Retrospective documentary about the making of the horror cult classic "The Return of the Living Dead."
Spectral(en)
A special-ops team is dispatched to fight supernatural beings that have taken over a European city.
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum(en)
Super-assassin John Wick returns with a $14 million price tag on his head and an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail. After killing a member of the shadowy international assassin’s guild, the High Table, John Wick is excommunicado, but the world’s most ruthless hit men and women await his every turn.
The Class of ‘92(en)
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.