Event

Official Film Screening - The Summer of Gods

Join us for an evening celebrating Afro-Brazilian culture through dance, film, and dialogue. Ótimo Madison Brazilian Dance will be hosting an official documentary screening of the new film The Summer of Gods by filmmaker Eliciana Nascimento (www.thesummerofgods.com). Light refreshments and a cash bar.

The Summer of Gods is a short film about a young girl named Lili who unites with her Afro-Brazilian religious ancestry on a summer visit with family to their ancestral village in rural Brazil. During her stay, she encounters Orishas (African gods) who help her find peace with a gift that has previously vexed her. The film is set in the Northeast of Brazil where Afro-Brazilian religious traditions remain strong. Lili's Grandma upholds Orisha traditions as an admired local priestess, but to ensure these traditions carry on after she passes, the gifted Lili is led on a mystical adventure of initiation through a nearby forest.

Through this narrative on the return to indigenous roots, a post-film community discussion will provide an opportunity for attendees to share perspectives on how elements of West African centered philosophy have survived the Middle Passage and continue to form the root of many Afro-spiritualities found within the Americas.