Part of Glasgow Film Festival 2018
It took directors Priscilla Telmon and Vincent Moon over three long years to research and document an extensive multitude of religious rituals in Brazil. Even with this broad research, you still get the feeling that the experimental documentary Hibridos, The Spirits of Brazil only scratches the surface of this vast and disparate subject matter.
The movie itself catalogues a series of traditional spiritual rituals and weaves them together to present a feature-length documentary. The rituals are all distinctive and unique in their presentation and show various aspects of Brazilian culture, music and religion. Each ritual is captured on a handheld camera, with the filmmakers taking the viewer into the very heart of the practice and allowing the audience to view the rituals from an immersive and stimulating perspective. We observe the brilliant Brazilian landscapes, the diverse and passionate people and experience the distinctive and distinguishing music. The movie is edited so each practice flows together and presents interesting imagery that intrigues the viewer with its unique presentation. With no spoken dialogue, it is the editing, the music, the dance and the performance that tells the story and this emphasises the experimental and investigative feel of the documentary. Hibridos, The Spirits of Brazil looks magnificent on the big screen and asks to the viewer to sit back and indulge themselves in the gorgeous imagery.
Hibridos, The Spirits of Brazil is part of the Crossing The Line stand at the Glasgow Film Festival. This collection of films takes an experimental and atypical look at cinema and brings new and diverse art films to the big screen. Priscilla Telmon and Vincent Moon have created a documentary that fits perfectly into this strand. The film itself is part of a larger project which includes an expanded cinema installation, a series of short films and a catalogue of music. The entire project is an exploration of cinema and the feature-length presentation is the perfect introduction to the subject area.