Beatriz, the Saint Prays
- Form
- Experimental film
- Year
- 2022
- Roles
- ProducerWriterDirector
- Shown at
- Premiere — Manyatta Screenings, online global screening, 2022
- Les Mains Gauches — Queer Feminist Short Movies, Marseille, 2023
- Latest Visions — International Women's Day Special, Brighton, 2023
- We Are Parable — 10th Anniversary, London, 2023
- Status
- Available for programming in exhibitions and film festivals
'Salve you say, and you do not know the reason you say it. You receive Salve and you do not know why…' A loosely translated excerpt from Salve Antoniana, the deconstructed Salve Regina created by Beatriz Kimpa Vita of the Kingdom of Kongo. In her days of rebellious protest against the Capuchin priests from Portugal, she took a dangerous stance by not only criticising their beliefs but also reinventing them. Mixing what she deemed useful from Catholicism with her own culture, she reinterpreted and localised the rituals and prayers.
In this piece, we attempt to 'use her essence' to create an experience: what would Dona Beatriz say of today? The spoken piece breaks down a popular Christian prayer through honest concern, irony and sarcasm to examine its meaning in today's world.
First presented as a virtual sound installation at the Kampala Biennale, 2020. Film premiere at Manyatta Screenings, 2021.
Cast & creative team
- Written and creative direction
- Gisemba Ursula
- Shot, edited and coloured by
- Lusi Mbira
- Music recorded by
- Paul Jillo Pakia at Artiv Hub
- Sound engineering and mixing
- Paul Jillo Pakia
- Narrating voice of Beatriz
- Doanna Owano
- Additional voices
- Paul Jillo Pakia, Gisemba Ursula, Joy Florence Muthie
- Production management
- Angela Musembi
- Assistant to director of photography
- Joseph E. Maina Kibe
- Transport
- Robinson Njenga
- Shot at the home of
- Felisters Onkware