Les Maîtres fous (the mad masters)

Duration: 30

Year Published: 1955

Creator: Documentary Educational Resources

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: Documents the ceremony of the Hauka, a religious sect, widespread in West Africa from the 1920's to the 1950's. Hauka participants were usually rural migrants from Niger who came to cities such as Accra in Ghana where they found work as laborers. Rouch filmed their annual ceremony at a farm outside the city. The Hauka enter a trance and are possessed by various spirits associated with western colonial powers. The imagery is powerful and disturbing. Possessed men with rolling eyes and foaming at the mouth eat a sacrificial dog and burn their bodies with torches. The ritual provides a psychological release which enables the Hauka to be good workers and to endure a degrading situation.

Complete Record: Documents the ceremony of the Hauka, a religious sect, widespread in West Africa from the 1920's to the 1950's. Hauka participants were usually rural migrants from Niger who came to cities such as Accra in Ghana where they found work as laborers. Rouch filmed their annual ceremony at a farm outside the city. The Hauka enter a trance and are possessed by various spirits associated with western colonial powers. The imagery is powerful and disturbing. Possessed men with rolling eyes and foaming at the mouth eat a sacrificial dog and burn their bodies with torches. The ritual provides a psychological release which enables the Hauka to be good workers and to endure a degrading situation.