Cinema
The Ancestors
André Libik · 1962
Synopsis
A twenty-minute documentary short, in colour, commissioned by the information services of the young state on the cult of the ancestors. It shows the ceremonies, offerings and objects by which the living continue to deal with their dead, and the place these practices hold in the ordinary life of the country, two years after independence. The commentary is in English.
Context
The Ministry of Information produced this short film, written, directed and produced by the Hungarian who then headed its film division, a refugee in Paris after 1956 who came to the country on a simple application, where he stayed three years. In 1962 he led the Nigerian delegation to Berlin, where the jury distinguished him. An American release followed in 1966, under the same title, and the film circulated in Germany under the name Die Ahnen.
Who it is for
Twenty minutes in English, in colour. Nothing to know in advance, except that ancestor worship is practised among several of the country's peoples and is by no means a marginal survival.
Prizes and reception
Special Jury Prize at the Berlin festival in 1962; it is Nigeria's entry into that festival, to which the country did not return before 2018.