Kukeri (2020)
Genre : Documentary
Runtime : 9M
Director : Daniel Ali, Jacob Schühle Lewis
Synopsis
The Balkans is home to an ancient pagan tradition where magic and mystery still have a sacred place in the cosmic order. The Kukeri festival has had a strong hold over Bulgarian cultural life since the fifth century, surviving the Ottomans, Christendom and communist rule. Every winter, hundreds of terrifying figures prowl snow-capped forests and village centers in search of evil spirits to dispel from their communities.
A boy preacher named Isaac goes to a town in Nebraska called Gatlin and gets all the children to murder every adult in town.
Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.
Having lived through traumatizing events during WWII, Father Lankester Merrin takes a sabbatical from the Church to conduct archaeological excavations in British-administered East Africa. Merrin unearths an ancient Byzantine church believed have been built and then immediately buried to keep down evil from the crypt below. The natives are convinced that uncovering the church has unleashed a demon, and begin to violently clash with the British military troops. As the village rapidly disintegrates into chaos and war, Merrin must face-off with the demon which has taken possession of somebody close to him.
A group of college friends reunite for a trip to the forest, but encounter a menacing presence in the woods that's stalking them.
As the plague decimates medieval Europe, rumours circulate of a village immune from the plague. There is talk of a necromancer who leads the village and is able to raise the dead. A fearsome knight joined by a cohort of soldiers and a young monk are charged by the church to investigate. Their journey is filled with danger, but it's upon entering the village that their true horror begins.
Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. Stranger still, however, are the rituals that take place there.
When an archaeologist uncovers a strange skull in a foreign land, the residents of a nearby town begin to disappear, leading to further inexplicable occurrences.
Vatican investigators are sent to the British West Country to investigate paranormal activity, and they find the events are more disturbing than they first imagined.
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
Dalia and her two young sisters grow up in a pagan apocalyptic cult led by an ancient Baltic goddess of death and reincarnation. On the night of an important cult ritual, a police raid rescues Dalia as cult members flee with her two sisters. Years later, as the guilt eats away at her, Dalia finds a potential link to the cult through a prominent and despised black metal artist sequestered in the woods. Dalia journeys to find her sisters but her quest for the truth becomes a descent into Hell.
The parents of a girl who was killed by a savage dog are granted the opportunity to spend three days with their deceased daughter.
In a poor Estonian village, a group of peasants use magic and folk remedies to survive the winter, and a young woman tries to get a young man to love her.
This film documents the Kukeri rituals in Bulgaria, focusing on the mask makers and performers who keep this ancient tradition alive. Their dedication to this agrarian custom is a visual testament to the power of tradition to provide hope and community in a time of diaspora and urbanization.
A visual exploration into the origins of witchcraft in the UK and in particular the demystification of symbolism still embedded today within many modern religious artefacts and rituals. X-rated upon its original release, this documentary looks in detail at previously hidden magic rites and rituals. Sharing the secrets of initiation into a coven, divination through animal sacrifice, ritual scrying, the casting of a 'death spell', and the chilling intimacy of a Black Mass.
Simon is a modern day warlock. Though he lives in a storm drain and sometimes talks to trees, he's deadly serious about his witchcraft. After being picked up for vagrancy, Simon spends a night in jail with Turk, a young hustler with connections to powerful people such as Hercules, an aging hipster who hires Simon to work one of his groovy parties. There he meets Linda, the DA's pill-popping daughter. In between romanic dallances and colorful sex magic ceremonies, Simon must contend with those who dare to challenge his magical prowess causing him to summon the dark world for his revenge.
Rome, AD 303. Emperor Diocletian demotes his favourite, Sebastian, from captain of the palace guard to the rank of common soldier and banishes him to a remote coastal outpost where his fellow soldiers, weakened by their desires, turn to homosexual activities to satisfy their needs. Sebastian becomes the target of lust for the officer Severus, but repeatedly rejects the man's advances. Castigated for his Christian faith, he is tortured, humiliated and ultimately killed.
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An examination of occultism as practiced in different parts of the world.
A documentary on the surviving syncretic pagan midwinter customs of the British Isles, focusing on nine ritual celebrations ranging from the Moray Firth in the north, the Somerset Levels in the south, Humberside in the east, and County Kerry in the west. Featuring music by the Albion Band and narration by John Tams.
Graying Spaniard Daniel has a healthy budget for indulging in the finer things in life. Daniel's favorite luxury is playing sponsor to younger men amid the lights and sights of Madrid's gay club scene. After Daniel shares a night with handsome Bulgarian emigre Kyril, he finds himself consumed with an insatiable lust for the charismatic foreigner. But, as their relationship takes shape, Daniel's latest conquest reveals his own manipulative tendencies.