About
To Serve the Gods is about the beliefs, rituals, and performances of a week-long ceremony given by a Haitian family in honor of its ancestral spirits. We are told at the outset of the film that this sevis loua only occurs every twenty to thirty years.
This particular service takes place in a rural community in southern Haiti, on family land, where relatives have gathered to propitiate gods inherited by their ancestors. The celebration of one's birthright and obligations involves drumming, song, dance, possession, animal sacrifice and sharing of food with the gods and with friends, family, and neighbors.
Filmmaker Karen Kramer first attended Voudou ceremonies in Haiti in 1971 and has been a student of Vodou for decades since. Her film is based on the ethnographic research of anthropologist Ira Lowenthal and his paper, Ritual Performances and Religious Experience: A Service for the Gods in Southern Haiti.
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Karen Kramer Filmmaker BioRegions:
Credits
To Serve the Gods
Directed by
Karen Kramer
Writing Credits
Ira Lowenthal
Produced by
Karen Kramer
Cinematography by
Karen Kramer
Editing by
Karen Kramer