Les Magiciens de Wanzerbé
Jean Rouch, 1949, FR, 34'
The Magicians of Wanzerbé was produced in the course of a scientific mission in Niger in 1948-1949 and was considered by Jean Rouch as his first ethnographic film. He documented the “principal rituals of Songhay magicians who are descendants of emperor Sonny Ali, from the village of Wanzerbé in the Niger Bend area. The Wanzerbé market, children’s games, Mossi the magician, the magician’s dance, sacrifices made to the village mountain spirit.” It was the first film that showed Western spectators that the powers of the Sohantyé magicians of the Songhai land were not just the product of a collective illusion.
French with English subtitles
