Les Maitres Fous

Documentary on the Hauku religious sect of West Africa. An extraordinary study of trance and spirit posession in which a diverse group of working men from Accra become occupied by the identities of colonial figures, both military and political. Rouch reflects on this ritual, carried out in seclusion and involving the consumption of a dog, as a means of treating mental distress, and it’s possible to extend this to consider the process, however few might actually take part, as a means by which the larger community comes to terms with the pain of its colonial inheritance.