2013 | 00:40:00 | France | English | Color | Stereo | 16:9 | HD video
Collection: Single Titles
Tags: Myth, Post-colonialism, Religion/Spirituality, Technology
“To take back the gold that was stolen from us – this is the object of our actions.”
Lettres du Voyant is a documentary-fiction about spiritism and technology in contemporary Ghana, which attempts to uncover some truths about a mysterious practice called "Sakawa" — internet scams mixed with voodoo magic. Tracing back the scammers’ stories to the times of Ghanaian independence, the film proposes Sakawa as a form of anti-neocolonial resistance.
The film takes the form of a voyage through a network of digitised mine shafts that lead the viewer to each of the film’s locations ; a gold mine, an e-waste dump, a voodoo ritual or a discotheque for example. A character recounts a story through reading a series of letters that he has written to the film’s author — letters that speak about the colonial history of Ghana, of gold, of technology.
Prizes + Awards
11/2013 - Kassel Dok Fest (Golden Key Award Nominee)
Premiere
CPH:DOX, New Visions CompetitionCopenhagen
2013
Exhibitions + Festivals
08/2015 Seoul International NewMedia Festival - Seoul
02/2015 Punto de Vista International Documentary Festival - Pamplona
11/2014 - Festival International de Jean Rouch - Paris
07/2014 - Open City Docs Festival - London
06/2014 - Côté Court Festival - Paris
05/2014 - Van Alen Institute of Architecture - New York
04/2014 - Locomotion Artist's Moving Image Festival - London
03/2014 - Louisiana Museum of Modern Art - Denmark
03/2014 - Luxor African Film Festival (International Competition)
01/2014 - Transmediale - Haus der Kulteren der Welt - Berlin
11/2013 - CPH:DOX 2013 (New Visions Competition)