Film: The Pierced Heart & the Machete

World music documentary
Wednesday, 7/23/2025
3:00 - 4:15
Golden Gate Valley Meeting Room
Golden Gate Valley

1801 Green Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
United States

415-355-5666

A vivid, unflinching exploration of two annual Vodou pilgrimages in Haiti. The first is for Èzili Danto, goddess of love, art and passion; worshipers from all over the world descend on the southwestern town of Ville-Bonheur to bathe in the sacred waterfall where Dantò resides. The second pilgrimage is for Dantòs' husband Ogoun, god of war, iron and healing. It takes place at the end of July in the northern town of Plaine du Nord, where practitioners bathe in a mud pool and make flamboyant sacrifices.

This beautifully shot film offers disorienting yet illuminating glimpses of the contradictory and complementary aspects of these two lwa, the electrifying rites that honor them, and the intense music that accompanies these ecstatic and bloody ceremonies. Director Olivia Wyatt’s vision is always sharp, unerring and unobtrusive.

NR, 70 mins., 2012. Closed captioning [CC] unavailable. 

This program made possible with kind permission from Sublime Frequencies. 

 

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