Film Program: Voices of the Gods by Al Santana
Friday, November 11 | 7PM
The Menil Collection
1533 Sul Ross St, Houston, TX 77006
FotoFest and The Menil Collection are pleased to present an outdoor screening of Al Santana’s landmark 1985 film, Voices of the Gods, held in conjunction with the exhibition Samuel Fosso: African Spirits, the FotoFest Biennial 2022 exhibition African Cosmologies: Redux, and the 2022 Houston Cinema Arts Festival. Preceding the film, Houston-based African dance and drum ensemble, KoumanKe'le', will present a performance that draws on West African traditional song and dance.
Voices of the Gods captures the rich legacy of ancient African religions practiced today in the United States. It provides viewers with rare insight into the practices and beliefs of the Akan and Yoruba religions and illustrates how mass media has been used to ridicule and denigrate these belief systems. The director provides intimate and respectful studies of an Egungun ancestral communion ceremony and documents daily life in the Yoruba village of Oyotunji in Sheldon, South Carolina, the only traditional African village of its kind in the US today.
We encourage guests to register for free tickets using the Eventbrite link below. In the event of inclement weather, the screening and performance will be presented in the Menil’s main building foyer.
For additional information about the African Spirits exhibition at Menil, the FotoFest Biennial 2022, and the Houston Cinema arts festival, follow the links below.
About the Director, Al Santana
Al Santana is a visual artist, independent filmmaker, cinematographer, and still photographer. His credits over the past 40 years includes work on numerous award-winning documentaries, public affairs films and videos that have aired on both network and public television. 2012, Salty Dog Blues, produced by Al Santana and Denise Belén Santiago takes a look a little-known history of people of color in the U.S. merchant marines. Salty Dog Blues won first prize in the 2013 Workers Unite International Film Festival. One People (2007) a hybrid doc/fiction film focuses on two sisters and their quest to discover a politicized Lorraine Hansberry. Blues People (2007) documented Mississippi blues musicians for an interactive web series titled “Blues People” which aired WGBO Boston. Military Option (2005) co-produced with Rico Speight and Third World Newsreel, takes a critical look at military recruiting practices within communities of color. Military Option screened at The National Gallery of Art, BAM Rose Cinemas, The Museum of Modern Art, Anthology Film Archives and at various colleges and universities. In The Spirit of Peace (2002) a documentary response to the events of 9/11, screened at the Brooklyn Arts Council, Museum of Modern Art, BAM Rose Cinemas and aired on WNET Channel 13’s Reel New York. Voices of The Gods (1985) looks at two ancient West African religions practiced in the United States today. The feature documentary premiered at the 1985 Margaret Mead International Film Festival and went on to screen at festivals in France, Italy, Burkina Faso, Canada, and is currently housed in the permanent collection of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Research Center in Black Culture and numerous colleges, universities and museums. Al holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the CUNY BA program in Sociology and Film, a Master of Fine Arts degree from National University in Digital Cinema.
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Image credit: Marilyn Nance.
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