The Many Faces of a Venezuelan Goddess
Directing, camera and research: Roger Canals
Production: CNRS-Images / Cellule Audiovisuelle du IIAC
Running time: 54 min.
Year: 2007
Sinopsis: María Lionza is one of the most popular goddesses in Venezuela. Several individuals belonging to very different social circles —a socialist painter, a sculptress, a theatre actress, a visual artist and a young medium, among others—, maintain particular links with her image. In the Venezuelan mythological universe this goddess is an exceptional case because, depending on the representations, she is either depicted as an Indian, mixed race, white or black woman. Sometimes she is portrayed as a benevolent or charitable figure and sometimes as an evil figure. The people in this documentary provide a portrait of the rich symbolism of María Lionza and highlight some of the roles her image plays in contemporary Venezuelan society, as well as some of the ethnic, religious and social conflicts which characterise this society. At the end of the film, at the inauguration of an exhibition on María Lionza in San Felipe, all the images shown during the film appear in one space to reveal the proximity between the religious and the artistic world…
Festivals and screenings (selection):
- Festival International Jean Rouch (2008)
- Festival of Visual Culture. Viscult. Joensuu, Finland. (2008)
- XVII International Festival of Ethnological Film. Belgrade, Serbia. (2008)
- Delhi International Ethnographic Film Festival (2008)
- Festival du Film Ethnographique du Québec (2009)
- Days of ethnographic film in Rovinj (2009)
- Reflets du cinéma ibérique et latino-américain. Lyon (2009)
- International Showcase of Ethnographic and Documentary Cinema in Puerto Rico (2009)
- Regard Bleu #5. Zurich (2009)
- 14th Rio International Ethnographic Film Festival (2008)