"Day March 11, 1971 ... after 3 years of misery... the villagers of Simiri, Zermaganda in Niger... organized a dance of possession, to ask the spirit of the forest... protective against attacks of locusts in future harvests." "On March 15, Daouda Sorko... priest's daughter Zima Daouda Siddo... called us to watch the fourth day of the ceremony... convened by the arcane drums Tourou and Bitti." "In the late afternoon, no dancer was possessed, and we decided... sound engineer, Moussa Hamidou, and I, on camera... filming a plane with about 10 minutes of... a document to be filmed in real time... the drums that in a little time, would be quiet forever." "So this experiment was made an ethnographic film in 1st person." "A FILM BY JEAN ROUCH" "Enter a movie and dive in reality... being at the same time, present and invisible... as 4 PM... when I accompanied Zima Daouda Siddo... we waited at the entrance of their land." "We passed an encirclement of sheep and ritual goats... that someday will be sacrificed to the spirits, whose robes... are black, white or red." "We pass next to the shed where lay the "spirits of the horses"." "In the midst of the land, in front of the orchestra... of old Sambou Albeidou, the village of Simiri dance." "He's been dancing for 4 hours and nothing happened." "Slowly we followed, step by step... and approached the orchestra of Tourou and Bitti." "Around the violinist Godie Kaina, the village of Zalize... 3 drummers... keep pace with beaters of Tourou... huge drums made of sheepskin." "Sambou welcomes the violinist and behind him, I see the Bitti player... long bass drum which skin is covered with marrow... and ornate pearls that will lead... to ritualistic music directly into the ears of the gods." "And suddenly, the orchestra is silent." "We should also have interrupted the filming... but we knew that something surely was going to happen." "A Tourou player blows her nose." "Come close to Bitti player and he yells:" ""Meat, meat!" "Koure, the hyena!" "Here's the beef." "Hyena is Dodo."" "And now, nao e mais (?" ") Sambou Albeidou, the farmer of Simiri... and Koure." "Koure, the hyena, the spirit of Haousa." "Koure walks slowly, while a woman..." "Tousinye Wasi, from the village of Simiri comes dancing in front of the orchestra." ""Now, I am the spirit Koure, approaching Daouda Sorko."" ""Meat, meat." "Koure, the output is not for you."" ""I want to go," says Koure." ""Behold the flesh, this is the knife." "We want herbs, only herbs, Koure."" "That is, good harvests." ""Herbs, herbs is what we want."" ""I want to leave," says Koure, walking toward the orchestra." "The old Kumbao of Simiri... priestess of the spirits of crops, welcomes Daouda Sorko:" ""Wizard, the son of sorcerer, the ancestor of sorcerer... his power stronger than that of the marabouts."" ""I did not eat," says Koure." ""Really?" "You haven't eaten?"" "And suddenly, Tousinye Wasie is possessed." "She screams... and ceases to be a housewife from Simiri... and turns into Hadio, the angry prisoner." "The boys and girls of the schools have come to see... as mother, father, grandmothers and grandfathers dance." ""The solution is not for you, Koure." "I want meat, right now."" ""He wants blood." "Wants a goat."" "A quiet woman approaches Hadio... and puts a "pagne" around her waist." "The gods now stand facing the orchestra." ""Here is the knife, here's the meat Koure, the output is not for you."" "And Daouda Sorko sprinkles the gods and the orchestra with the perfume Haousa." "Father sorcerer, grandfather sorcerer." "The gods now expect sacrifices." "And I should have kept filming, but I wanted to make the film... return to the beginning of my story, and distance myself slowly... to see what they saw (?" ") school children." "This small village square, with the last sunbeams where... during a ceremony... furtive men and gods spoke about future harvests." "Legend ripped by davidonato Free Cinema Movement"