| Description |
1 online resource (67 minutes) |
| Summary |
This film is a portrait of the life of Shona Mbira player Gwanzura Gwenzi existing in both the traditional and modern worlds. Gwanzura works in middle management for a western corporation in a city, dressed in western clothes. Back at his rural homestead, he hosts all-night spirit ceremonies called bira with his sister, Francisca, serving as the family medium for their great-grandfather spirit Kaodza. The highlight and centerpiece of this documentary is the family's bira, to our knowledge the only one ever captured on film in its entirety. Witness the various stages and liturgical components of the ceremony culminating in the arrival of the spirits late at night. Francisca's daughter, Stella Chiweshe, becomes possessed by a snake spirit. Kaodza arrives through Francisca, and the family confers with the spirit in an extraordinary scene that displays how the living interact with their ancestors |
| Notes |
Title from resource description page (viewed January 11, 2022) |
|
In English |
| Subject |
Gwenzi, Gwanzura
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Gwenzi, Gwanzura. |
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Mbira.
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Mbira music -- Zimbabwe
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Shona (African people) -- Songs and music
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Spiritualism -- Zimbabwe
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Manners and customs.
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Mbira.
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Mbira music.
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Shona (African people)
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Spiritualism.
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Zimbabwe -- Social life and customs
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Zimbabwe.
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| Genre/Form |
Documentary films.
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Songs and music.
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Documentary films.
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Documentaires.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Zantzinger, Alfred Gei, director, producer
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Bailey, Michael, producer
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Tracey, Andrew T. N., director
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Gwenzi, Gwanzura, interviewee
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Constant Spring Productions, production company.
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