UCL$Conference$
“The$Bodily$and$Material$Cultures$of$Religious$Subjectivation”$
Excerpts$from$selected$films$
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On! Tuesday! at! 12am! we! shall! quote! and! screen! two! or! three! clips! from! the! following! four!
films.!The!films!were!provided!by!the!“Médiathèque”!of!the!Musée!du!Quai!Branly!(Paris),!our!
partner! in! the! organization! of! Conference! and! Claire! Schneider,! its! curator,! to! whom! we!
express! our! thanks.! They! will! be! quoted! as! part! of! the! conference.! We! have! selected! a! few!
clips! that! have! been! assembled! by! Chris! Hagisavva,! the! Departmental! Computer!
Representative,!UCL,!to!whom!we!express!our!warmest!thanks.!
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I.$«$Mary$in$Times$of$Crisis$»$
Bolivia,!2012,!93!mn,!
Language:!Spanish!(Bolivia),!with!English!subtitles.!
Directed! by! Sanne! Derks,! images! and! cutting:! Sharis! Coppens.! Production/Distribution:!
Chicha! films! (The! Netherlands).! E.mail! address:! info@shariscoppens.nl.! Sanne! and! Sharis!
have! advertised! the! UCL! conference! on! their! web! page! www.urkupina.nl.! We! express! our!
heartfelt!gratitude!for!the!advert!and!permission!to!quote.!
!
“To!Lourdes!you!go!for!health,!to!Urkupiña!for!wealth.!At!the!shrine!of!the!Virgin!of!Urkupiña!
pilgrims! come! during! the! whole! year! to! ask! Mary! for! money,! cars! and! houses.! Pilgrims! not!
only! ask! verbally! for! money,! they! also! materialise! their! requests! in! the! most! characteristic!
ritual!at!the!shrine:!the!dislodging!of!stones!from!the!mountain.!The!stones!are!seen!as!money!
being!lent!by!the!Virgin.!We!follow!three!Bolivian!women!in!their!activities!around!the!four^
day! during! fiesta,! when! the! amount! of! pilgrims! increases! dramatically:! the! two! elderly!
indigenous!sisters!Virginia!and!Victoria!who!earn!a!living!by!theatrically!selling!prayers!and!
blessings! to! the! pilgrims.! They! deploy! Mary! strategically! and! inventively! to! improve! their!
economic! positions.! The! movie! also! shows! the! storey! of! Escarlent,! a! young! rock^chick! from!
their!city,!who!comes!to!Mary!in!the!hope!she!can!keep!her!bar!from!going!bankrupt.!Their!
paths!cross!at!the!pilgrimage!shrine.”!
!
We! shall! quote! the! following:! Film! credits;! The! narrative! of! the! Virgin’s! miracle! on! the!
Urkupina! mountain;! Victoria! buys! offerings! for! Mother! Earth! on! the! market;! The! crowd! of!
pilgrims!walks!towards!the!hill!and!the!stone!quarries;!Escarlent!meets!Victoria!who!does!the!
prayers!on!the!stones.!
!
!
II.$«$OTAIYA$$Japan’s$Hidden$Christians$»$
By!Christal!Whelan,!!
Documentary!Educational!Resources,!34!minutes,!1997.!
Language:!Japanese!with!comments!in!English.!www.der.org.!!
!
In!the!sixteenth!century!Portuguese!Catholic!missionaries!introduced!Christianity!to!Japan!in!
a! context! of! feudal! wars.! The! religion! flourished! for! about! fifty! years,! but! by! 1614! the!
Tokugawa! government! issued! an! edict! that! outlawed! Christianity! and! expelled! the!
missionaries! from! Japan.! About! 150.000! believers! went! underground! and! continued! to!
practice! their! religion! in! secret.! These! people! are! knows! as! the! “Hidden! Christians”.! Otaiya,!
meaning! “Big! Evening”! is! the! Hidden! Christian! version! of! Christmas! Eve.! Through! the!
!
1!
occasion!of!this!ceremony,!the!film!tells!the!conflicting!story!of!Japan’s!Hidden!Christians.!The!
film! features! the! only! two! remaining! priests! in! the! Goto! Islands.! Both! men! are! in! their! late!
nineties!and!without!successors.!!
!
We! shall! quote! the! following:! Japan’s! civil! war;! the! arrival! of! the! Portuguese! and! Spanish!
missionaries,!the!peace!established!by!the!Emperor!and!the!ban!on!Christianity!followed!by!
the!prosecution!of!the!Christians;!the!use!of!images!to!be!trampled!by!them.!The!second!part!
shows! the! Christmas! ceremony! accomplished! in! 1997! by! one! of! the! two! surviving! priests!
named!Fukushima.!(ca!9!minutes).!!
!
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!
III.$«$Sufism$in$Afghanistan$»$
(Soufis!d’Afghanistan),!By!Arnaud!Desjardin,!Alizé!Diffusion,!1973.!
Language!:!Arabic,!Persian,!comments!in!French.!
!
The!film!was!made!in!1973!with!an!amateur!analogical!camera.!The!images!are!not!so!good,!
but!it!is!a!rare!document!on!the!Sufi!Islamic!tradition!in!Afghanistan.!It!illustrates!its!mystic!
and!ascetic!dimensions,!focused!on!group!bodily!techniques!and!the!veneration!of!the!Quran.!
We!selected!the!transmission!of!the!“Baraka”!by!a!Sufi!Pir!(master)!to!a!disciple,!followed!by!
the!teaching!of!the!various!ascetic!points!of!the!body!(lataif).!This!is!followed!by!the!zikr!or!
collective! ascetic! practice! based! on! breath! control,! singing,! and! bodily! motions.! The! Sufi!
master!stays!outside!the!group!of!disciples.!Another!technique!consists!in!the!Calligraphy!of!
the!Quran.!The!clip!ends!up!by!showing!a!visit!to!the!tomb!of!Ansari,!kissing!the!Quran,!and!
submitting!to!it!by!ducking!and!passing!under!the!pulpit!on!which!it!rests.!(ca.!6!minutes.)!
!
!
IV.$«$Rituals$of$the$forest$in$Gabon$»$
By!Susumu!Noro!and!Claude!Blanchard,!Adavision,!24’,!1973!
Language:!one!of!the!local!(Bantu)!languages.!Comments!in!French,!no!sub^titles!
!
The! film! shows! the! initiation! of! three! young! boys! to! the! Yamouey0 forest! spirit! among! the!
Mitsoghos!of!Gabon,!followed!by!the!film!credits.!The!initiation!includes!the!ingestion!of!Iboga!
roots! inducing! hallucinatory! perceptions! two! days! before! the! inception! of! the! ritual.! The!
initiation! itself! consists! in! various! bodily! ordeals,! the! confrontation! to! the! Yamouey0
masquerade!and!taking!an!oath!never!to!steal!other!people’s!property,!never!to!tell!lies!and!
never!to!betray!fellow!villagers.!The!three!boys!are!brought!back!to!the!men’s!house!where!
they!will!stay!until!the!scarifications!they!endured!on!their!wrists!and!elbows!have!healed.!
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