YOKO OSHA CHAPTER III OR THE FIRST DAY IS THE DAY OF THE RIVER

The third and final chapter of the Yoko Osha trilogy. “Making Saint” is an autoethnographic, sensorial and multilayered portrait of Santeria or Regla de Osha (The rules of the gods); the AfroCuban religion, forcefully imported from West Africa with the slaves trade and falsely syncretic for survival. Not anymore punished by the government, the practice is even more flourishing as the socioeconomic situation in the island remains precarious for the majority of the population. As proposed by the priest in the previous chapters, Lazara Rosell Albear intended to go through the 7 days initiation ceremony. A crowning, a rebirth, a highly performative event. On becoming, on belonging. Eulogizing the body as a language, spontaneity and improvisation. Engagement for black female representation in the arts and social change. In time social unrest around the world, Can a film be a tool for social change, for social healing?

The pandemic placed travels on hold and most of the film was shot in Brussels and Gent selfexploring the rituals and the states of being to which they lead. Straddling trance and control, fixed and moving images the artist is both a participant and a spectator of the ceremonies she documents. A compelling, unconventional diaristic meditation that reveals the deep involvement with her roots and the relationship with her artistic practice.