Magicians of the Earth: Kings of the Water

Magicians of the Earth: Kings of the Water

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew

Status

Released

Release Date

Jun 4, 1991

Runtime

0h 57m

Genres

Documentary

Original Title

Magicians of the Earth: Kings of the Water

Director

Philip Haas

Description

Cyprien Tokoudagba is from the city of Abomey in the Benin Republic of West Africa, where he paints the religious houses of the vodun. Haas and his film crew follow Cyprien as he first paints and then takes part in the ceremony to open a new temple. The paintings include three vodun figures and several emblems, including a pipe and a duck. Cyprien explains his work in the context of the religion and takes the crew to film two other local ceremonies, one where the dead are believed to come back to instruct the living through wild dancing and, another, where women warriors perform their war dances.