NAZARETH

‘Nazareth’ is an audio-visual quest for the still living fragments of Christian spirituality: in Nazareth-Belgium, Nazareth-Ghana and Nazareth-Israel. The work focuses on suffering and spirituality of ordinary people in three different villages sharing more than just a name. In the Flemish village of Nazareth, founded by a crusader who was miraculously saved by the Holy Mary, an old devout woman overcomes her suffering and solitude by giving comfort to people in local institutions. She regrets that she is too old to join the annual procession where the 700-year old statue of the Virgin Mary is carried around the village. The village of Nazareth in Ghana was founded by a black prophet to heal the sick by exorcising Satan with the power of the Holy Spirit. The village is like a big hospital without any medical staff. Sick, disabled and misfortunate people come to live here, hoping and waiting to be cured through divine intervention. In the ancient town of Nazareth in Israel, a young Palestine man dedicates his life to a paralyzed priest, who overcame his despair and powerlessness through a strong inner spiritual life. Their lives reflect the meaning of Jesus suffering: the victory of the spirit over the body through sacrifice. ‘Nazareth’ is a poetic evocation of life in these three villages. Myth, everyday life and rituals merge into one another. The visible and invisible world, the present and the past become intertwined. Through confrontations and encounters between different cultures, ‘Nazareth’ explores the power and the impotence of religion, as well as the meaning of spirituality today. (Source: www.infifilms.com)

This work has been digitised in the frame of DCA Project