Description
Islamic exorcism or psychotropic medication? “Descending with Angels” explores two different solutions to the same problem: namely Danish Muslims who are possessed by invisible spirits, called jinn. A Palestinian refugee living in the city of Aarhus has been committed to psychiatric treatment after a severe case of jinn possession which caused him to destroy the interior of a mosque, crash several cars, and insult a number of people. He sees no point in psychotropic medication since his illness has already been treated with Quranic incantations. A psychiatrist and nurse try to understand his point of view but find that even further medication is needed. In the meantime a local imam battles a stubborn jinn-spirit of Iraqi origin and tries to explain the Muslims of Aarhus that they should stop worrying so much about jinn, magic, and other mundane affairs since nothing can harm anyone except by the permission of God. The film compares two systems of treatment that despite vast differences both share a view of healing as operating through submission of faith to an external non-human agency—namely God or biomedicine.
Biography
Christian Suhr is a filmmaker and assistant professor at the Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University. He is the editor of the book “Transcultural Montage” (2013) and the director of the award-winning films “Unity through Culture” (Papua New Guinea 2011), “Ngat is Dead” (Papua New Guinea 2009), as well as “Want a Camel, Yes?” (Egypt 2005). He is the author of a number of articles dealing with visual anthropology, spirit possession, and psychiatry. Christian Suhr is a filmmaker and assistant professor at the Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University. He is the editor of the book “Transcultural Montage” (2013) and the director of the award-winning films “Unity through Culture” (Papua New Guinea 2011), “Ngat is Dead” (Papua New Guinea 2009), as well as “Want a Camel, Yes?” (Egypt 2005). He is the author of a number of articles dealing with visual anthropology, spirit possession, and psychiatry.
Distributer: www.der.org/films/descending-with-angels.html
Aarhus University: http://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/christian-suhr(67d60eea-4f2d-4e2a-b718-ef059b3da62b).html
Film Company: http://www.personafilm.dk/en/
AWARDS
“Best Documentary Feature,” Berlin Independent Film Festival (February 2015)
“Special Student Film Award,” Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival (May 2014)
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
• Religions in Diaspora: Global Symposium (Panel about the film, Los Angeles, October 2015)
• Psychology and the Other (Panel about the film, Boston, October 2015)
• SIEF Zagreb (June 2015)
• Trento Film Festival, EURORAMA (May 2015)
• Global Islam Film Seminar (Emerging Worlds, UC Santa Cruz, May 2015)
• Ethnocineca (Vienna, May 2015)
• International Festival of Ethnographic Film (Sofia, May 2015)
• Ethnosymposium (Halle, May 2015)
• Ethnografilm (Paris, April 2015)
• World Film Festival (Tartu, March 2015)
• Days of Ethnographic Film (Ljubljana, March 2015)
• Berlin Independent Film Festival (February 2015)
• SVA Film and Media Festival (AAA, Washington, Dec 2014)
• American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting (Panel about the film, San Diego, November 2014)
• Athens Ethnographic Film Festival (November 2014)
• Munich International Ethnographic Film Festival (November 2014)
• Sardinia International Ethnographic Film Festival (Nuoro, Italy, September 2014)
• Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival (May 2014)
• Beeld voor Beeld (Amsterdam, Dec 2013)
• CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, Nov. 2013)
• NAFA Film Festival (Bilbao, October 2013).
• RAI International Ethnographic Film Festival (Edinburgh, June 2013)
ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS
• Okto, Austrian TV Channel, Vienna
• University of California, Berkeley, USA
• University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
• University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
• University of Manchester, UK
• University of Heidelberg, Germany
• Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
• KU Leuven, Belgium
• Atlas Stad Antwerpen, Free Hands, Belgium
• James Cook University, Cairns, Australia
• Aarhus University, Denmark
• Anatomisk Teater in Oslo, Norway
• A number of psychiatric hospitals and cultural centers in Europe
Project Details
Year: 2013
Directed, filmed, and edited by: Christian Suhr
Produced by Persona Film (November 2013)
Distribution: Documentary Educational Resources (DER, Watertown)
Running time: 75 min
Orginal format: XDCAM 1080p
Screening format: DCP / Blu-ray / ProRes / Mpeg4 / DVD / DV SP
Languages: Arabic, Danish, English