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.
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Niek NicolaesDirector
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Niek NicolaesWriter
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Herma DarmstadtProducer
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Project Type:Documentary
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Genres:social, culture, africa, benin, animism, diaspora
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Runtime:1 hour 7 minutes
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Completion Date:April 23, 2023
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Production Budget:10,000 EUR
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Country of Origin:Netherlands
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Country of Filming:Benin
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Shooting Format:digital
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Afrika filmfestivalLeuven
Belgium
April 29, 2023
world
Unesco prize -
EthnocinecaVienna
Austria
May 8, 2023
austrian premiere
Excellence in Visual Anthropology Award -
EthnokinoBern
Switzerland
September 30, 2023
swiss -
Under Our SkinNairobi
Kenya
November 20, 2023
african
Award of best documentary -
Tokyo Documentary Film Festivaltokyo
Japan
December 14, 2023
asian
Grand Award Visual anthropology and Ethnographic film -
FestIFISNikki
Benin
April 25, 2024
Benin
Audience Award -
KetelhuisAmsterdam
Netherlands
May 27, 2024
Dutch -
The African Film Festival TAFFDallas
United States
June 18, 2024
American
Distribution Information
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the film is made, financed and distributed independently and all rights are at the filmmakersDistributorCountry: NetherlandsRights: All Rights
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.
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.