The Art of Disappearing is a new feature documentary that tells the little-known story of Haitian Voodoo priest, Amon Fremon, who visited the People’s Republic of Poland in 1980.
The short story goes, courtesy of the filmmkers…
Poland was a strange place for him. Even the rain was louder, as if in a land of deaf people. People gathered in queues for hours but they never spoke to each other. A romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz led him to the underworld and helped him contact Polish spirits. He survived the martial law period when the evil white water came from the sky, water that could not satisfy thirst. Finally he decided to perform a great Voodoo ceremony to free the Polish people from evil forces and start a revolution similar to the one that took place in Haiti 200 years ago.
The film is further described as a metaphysical view on socialism through the eyes of “a stranger form a different culture.“
I’m not familiar with Amon Fremon’s story, so those of you who are can chime in. What I did learn from the brief research I did on him, is that he believed that he was a descendant of Polish soldiers who were abandoned in Haiti, after the Haitian Revolution. They intermarried with Haitians, and may have established themselves at a settlement in Casales. And although they probably practiced Catholicism in the early days, some would later become practioners of Voodoo.
An intriguing story, based on the little I’ve learned, and there’s much more to discover here.
The film premiered last month at the International Film festival Visions du Reel in Switzerland – one of the most prestigious documentary film festivals in Europe, and has been invited to be part of the Opening Gala of the 10th Planete+ Doc Film Festival (http://planetedocff.pl/) that’s underway through the 19th, in Warsaw, Poland.
It’s also been picked by Warsaw-based sales company New Europe Film Sales, who will be shopping it to international distributors.
The Art of Disappearing is directed by Bartek Konopka and Piotr Rosołowski, and produced with Adam Mickiewicz’s Institute and Anna Wydra’s Otter Films.
It’s on my watch-list from here.
I found a trailer, although it’s not subtitled in English. It’s embedded below, followed by a full poster:
