witchcraft - FilmRoot

The Cursed Ones (Ghana) – A Murder Mystery in Rural Ghana

The Cursed Ones Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Murder, witchcraft, corruption, and superstition. The Cursed Ones has a lot going on to keep you entertained for the duration of the film. If you’re looking for a story like the protagonist in this film, then watch The Cursed Ones for free on Flix Premiere.

Image result for the cursed ones

Why Watch The Cursed Ones?

To see that witch trials are still happening around the world (also see I Am Not A Witch)
If you love a good murder mystery
For a trip to a remote town in rural Ghana
Learn that the people are not always right (we are victims of fake news and scheming pastors)

The Breakdown

The Cursed Ones starts with a young pastor with a black eye listening to a tape recording. We hear that there has been murder in the town the pastor is from. It’s a flash forward, intended to get us quickly involved into the plot and watch on.

After the intriguing opening scene we get a lot of plot exposition. We are shown how one of the village hunters finds a young mute girl (Asabi) in the woods and brings her home. Then we follow Godwin, a journalist from the city, sent to cover the festival in the hunter and pastor’s home town. It’s obvious the town is remote. There doesn’t appear to be any running water or electricity and it’s surrounded by lush forests. It’s the perfect setting for a murder mystery.

Corruption in the Church & Witchcraft?

The director first shows the head pastor of the village talking to one of the villagers inside a pretty dark room. The lack of colour in the room, contrasted to the bright colours outdoors, makes the scene appear pretty ominous. It’s an early clue to the audience, that the head pastor should not be trusted.

In contrast to the head pastor, the young pastor is friendly and talkative, and is obviously committed to his teaching (he doesn’t leave his class to be interviewed by Godwin). Because of his popularity, he seems like the better fit for the head pastor role. As a result, the head pastor seeks extreme ways to control his congregation. He claims that the devil has found his way into the village and lives in the young ‘witch’, Asabi. He exploits the superstitions of the villagers to imprison Asabi, claiming that only he can save them if they kill her and continue to follow him.

The plot gets a little more complex when a witch doctor arrives on the scene and starts extorting money from the villagers to ‘protect’ their children from evil spirits. Whilst the head pastor challenges the villagers trust in this witch doctor, it later becomes clear that they have been colluding to extort money from the village. The whole story challenges the integrity of the church and gullible congregations.

Conclusion & what to watch next

The Cursed Ones challenges the integrity of the church and the gullible villagers that blindly follow them. They are both to blame for the murders and the witch trials. There’s a lot going on in this film, which makes the plot a bit busy, but will keep you entertained throughout.

For a more artistic portrayal of ‘witches’ in Africa, check out Zambia’s I Am Not a Witch. It features another young girl, who is accused of being a witch because she doesn’t talk. It dives deeper into the prejudices and strange superstitions.

If you liked the mystery element of this film, I recommend watching October 1. It’s a Nigerian movie that follows an old policeman trying to solve 3 murder cases in a rural town to help Nigeria achieve independence from Britain.

Zerzura – A Psychedelic Journey into the Sahara

Zerzura Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

If you’re looking for a disorientating journey into the Sahara desert inspired by Touareg folk-tales, you’ve come to the right place. Zerzura looks and feels like a budget film, so don’t expect high production quality. However, you can expect a lot of magic, dreams, visions and djinn, as one nomad goes in search of his lost brother.

From: Niger, Africa
Watch: Trailer
Next: Sleepwalking Land, Under the Shadow, Enter the Void

Nollywood in Hollywood – Celebrating New Nigerian Film in Los Angeles

Last weekend, the 5th edition of the Nollywood in Hollywood film festival returned to Los Angeles for another brief showcase of the best Nigerian films from the past year. This year, the festival ran for two nights, screening Gone at the USC School of Cinematic Arts on Friday, before heading over to the West Side for Juju Stories at The Aero. Whilst we were only able to attend Saturday’s screening, we encourage all film fans to look out for Nollywood in Hollywood next year. Not only are the screening’s a brilliant showcase of new Nollywood films in a city that often overlooks the African film industries, but these screenings are free and very well hosted.

In many years of attending film festivals, Nollywood in Hollywood’s screening of Juju Stories was only the second which actually provided regional food to the entire audience ahead of the film. The other was a screening of Mohamed Al Daradji’s The Journey for the BFI Fest for which the Iraqi Embassy supplied Baklava to everyone attending. Whilst free food isn’t necessary to enjoy movies, it does add a memorable touch that will probably make you more open to whatever film you are about to see. From what we saw, the free meat pies, spring rolls, and puff puff excited a few attendants familiar with the foods, and made others more open to socializing to discover what the food was and to learn more about the event in the cinema lobby ahead of the film. It’s a great way to get an unfamiliar audience open to experiencing unfamiliar films.

Whilst ‘Nollywood’ has come to stand for all film production from Nigeria, Nollywood boomed in the late 1980’s/early 1990s with the arrival of the VHS system. VHS made filmmaking cheaper and therefore more accessible, allowing anyone (filmmaker or not) to have a go at making their own films. It also made it easier to distribute films, as VHS opened the home video market, meaning filmmakers didn’t have to have to make deals with theaters to get their films seen. Because VHS made it easier and cheaper to shoot films and get them seen, filmmaking in Nigeria exploded. At certain points in the 2000’s the Nollywood film industry was making an estimated 4 films a day! However, alongside the boom in production, the new face of Nigerian cinema faced a lot of criticism. Opening up the film industry to everyone loosened the standards of filmmaking as well as the themes. Many of the new Nollywood productions focused on witchcraft and juju, giving viewers a skewed view of Nigerian (and African) culture.

Juju Stories is an example of the current state of Nollywood film. As the focus of Nigerian film production has switched back to theatrical releases supported by larger budgets, the production standards have improved. Many Nollywood productions are now screened in cinemas at home or abroad, as well as reaching international film festivals and streaming platforms. Whilst the themes made popular in the Nollywood home-video era remain (such as witchcraft), the films look a lot better. Juju Stories is a great example of this. It includes three different stories shot by three different filmmakers from a Nigerian film collective that all touch on Juju. Each short is very well made, and the comedy fit the big screen environment perfectly. It reminded me of a screening of Argentina’s Wild Tales that I saw a while back in which one man, probably Argentinian, was cracking up throughout the film. Similarly, the audience at the Juju Stories screening was cracking up and shouting out at the characters on screen.

Unlike the Nollywood movies of the home-video era, today’s Nollywood films are at home on the big screen. So do yourself a favor and acquaint yourself with Nollywood at the Nollywood in Hollywood film festival next year to see Modern Nigerian film where it should be seen: on the big screen.

Keep an eye on the Nollywood in Hollywood website for details for next year’s festival.