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The village of Kenou

The village of Kenou is a portrait of a traditional village community in Benin, a small country in West Africa, where the old animist vodun culture is still leading.
Tassi is the oldest inhabitant of the village. She is the priestess that maintains contact with the ancestors on behalf of the community. Tassi teaches us how to look at her world, where ancestors and vodun are naturally present and where they must always be consulted through the oracle before important decisions are made.
We meet Sylvine, the village chief, who was chosen by the spirit of the deceased Martha to take her as his second wife.
We experience how Tassi makes contact with the ancestors and rewards them for providing protection against Evil.
We attend the ceremonies of two teenage girls in the house of the vodun Heviosso, a sacred place where outsiders are usually not allowed to enter. After they have served the vodun for two years, they are allowed to return to their parents.

The film follows the rhythm of daily life in the village. The translation, or when necessary retranslation, is the result of close collaboration with the inhabitants and aims to do justice to their way of thinking, giving special attention to the proverbs which flavor the spoken word and the songs that turn it into poetry.
The Village of Kenou is a documentary that breathes the age-old West African animist culture in image and words and provides the viewer with an hour-long trip into another world.

  • Niek Nicolaes
    Director
  • Niek Nicolaes
    Writer
  • Herma Darmstadt
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    social, culture, africa, benin, animism, diaspora
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 7 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 23, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Netherlands
  • Country of Filming:
    Benin
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Afrika filmfestival
    Leuven
    Belgium
    April 29, 2023
    world
    Unesco prize
  • Ethnocineca
    Vienna
    Austria
    May 8, 2023
    austrian premiere
    Excellence in Visual Anthropology Award
  • Ethnokino
    Bern
    Switzerland
    September 30, 2023
    swiss
  • Under Our Skin
    Nairobi
    Kenya
    November 20, 2023
    african
    Award of best documentary
  • Tokyo Documentary Film Festival
    tokyo
    Japan
    December 14, 2023
    asian
    Grand Award Visual anthropology and Ethnographic film
  • FestIFIS
    Nikki
    Benin
    April 25, 2024
    Benin
    Audience Award
  • Ketelhuis
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    May 27, 2024
    Dutch
  • The African Film Festival TAFF
    Dallas
    United States
    June 18, 2024
    American
Distribution Information
  • the film is made, financed and distributed independently and all rights are at the filmmakers
    Distributor
    Country: Netherlands
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Niek Nicolaes

Niek Nicolaes was born in 1952 in the Netherlands. He studied clinical psychology and philosophy of science but in his 30s he decided to leave everything behind, seeking adventure and made his first travel crossing the Sahara with an old van. During this travel he is greatly impressed and fascinated by the strength and hospitality of the Africans and their way of facing life. Many more trips followed, together with his wife and photographer Herma Darmstadt.
Since 2016 the couple frequent the small village of Kenouhoué in Benin as part of a collaborative project. When the inhabitants were exposed to Western perspectives on their culture through the creators, the idea for a film collaboration was born. Something which once started as a wild fantasy has developed into a wayward film four years later
By now, the inhabitants are convinced that the creators of the film were sent by the Vodou and their Ancestors with a special mission: to bridge the gap between their world and the Western world.
Coincidence doesn’t exist for the people in Kenouhoue.
Coincidence only exists for people who do not want to know.
The film is his directing debut and was shot during several shooting periods from 2017-2021. It was made independently and in full collaboration with the villagers.

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Director Statement

Vodun, or vodou, is usually still associated in the Western world with mysterious rites, bloody offerings, possession and a belief in dark powers. During three centuries of colonial dominance, Christian rulers have tried to deform an age-old culture into a devilish ritual which most Westerners today will only know from Hollywood interpretations meant to shock and amuse viewers. For the people featured in the film, Vodou isn’t black magic. To them, Vodou is a gift from their Ancestors, an all-encompassing view of the world, which should give sense and meaning to life. It serves as a guideline to the comings and goings of every day.
The inhabitants of Kenouhoue are proud of their traditions, and they want to showcase their pride. They are still being overwhelmed by influences that are supposed to convince them that the Western way of living is superior to theirs. It's time for them to be able to show us that there are other ways of celebrating life.