A reaction to the seminal text by Swiss anthropologist Paul Wirz entitled "Exorcism and the Art of Healing in Ceylon," this high contrast hand processed film considers a history of colonialism and ethnographic practices in South Asia. At my mother's village, I restaged an exorcism once performed on her in the early 1960s when she was a little girl. Possessed by the lecherous entity known as the Kalu Kumara, the Sanni Yakuma healing ritual was performed over a 12-hour period.

Production credits: Rajee Samarasinghe (Director, writer, producer, editor, cinematographer, sound/silence, & colorist), Christina C Nguyen (Film tech)

Production format: 16mm

AWARDS:
2017: "Audience Award" - CROSSROADS 2017 at SFMOMA

SCREENINGS:
2020: Media City Film Festival - THOUSANDSUNS CINEMA
2019: LACDA - Los Angeles Center for Digital Art
2019: 9th Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival
2018: 2nd The Unseen Festival
2018: California Institute of the Arts
2018: FRACTO - Experimental Film Encounter
2017: 22nd Media City Film Festival
2017: CROSSROADS 2017 at SFMOMA
2017: 39th Big Muddy Film Festival

Projection note: Please mask the film when projected, if possible, as it will be pillarboxed in the digital file.