Return to the Land of Souls is the first documentary of the Spanish writer and photographer Jodi Esteva, and it is a masterful work. The film follows its narrator, Yéo Douley, on a pilgrimage to the gravesite of his master teacher, Jean Marie Addiafi, a writer and intellectual from the Ivory Coast who fought to conserve the Akan people’s oral literature, myths, and legends, as well as their knowledge and uses of plants. The film makes an important contribution to the preservation of the critical cultural work of the Komians, or “animistic priests,” who are struggling to keep their ancestral beliefs alive. It is also a respectful and often moving depiction of the community’s intimate relationship with the earth and the spirits.

Return to the Land of Souls fits quite comfortably into the genre of traditional documentaries about rural Africa in its focus on origins, nature, and the people’s relationship to it, custom versus “progress” or globalization, the rural versus the urban environment, and belief in the spirit world’s inextricable link to the physical world. The subject matter is easily susceptible to clichéd depictions of the ancient wisdoms that are elucidated in the film—and in fact there are a couple of strange and perhaps ill-placed dramatizations of certain individuals’ actions. However, Return to the Land of Souls is a sensitive portrayal of the work that is critical to the survival of the Akan community, and even of Africa as a whole. It reflects Esteva’s extensive work in Africa before the making of the film as well as the rituals that he witnessed in the course of writing his book, Viaje al país de las almas (Pre-Textos, 1999), which he describes on his website (www.jordiesteva.com) as “a visual and written testimony of the African world of animism, initiation rituals and spirit possession phenomena.”

The film reflects Esteva’s self-consciousness about the way that traditional African cultures are shown on screen, especially in its portrayal of the ritual scenes. There are no gratuitous shots of animal sacrifices, none of insider-outsider commentary exoticizing people’s beliefs and actions that one finds in many “anthropological” or “educational” films about traditional African belief systems. The “authentic” voice that comes through is largely Douley’s; in fact, if one were not aware of the director’s identity one could easily assume that the film is Douley’s project. As a child of the community Douley conveys a reverence for what he witnesses, and his voiceovers as well as his physical presence in several scenes give the viewer a sense of privileged access to a beautiful and ancient tradition with timeless relevance. There is also a perceptible sense of Douley as a mediating presence between the community and the filmmaking crew, and of his participation as crucial to the acceptance and sanctioning of the cameras and the foreigners attached to them.

Aside from the staged shots appearing intermittently in the film—lingering long-shots of the forest followed by external long-shots and internal close-ups of the bus on which Douley is traveling—the viewer does not get the sense that any of the scenes are prefigured. The viewer will not see any sly peeks at the camera from those who are being filmed to make sure they are in-frame. The film presents Douley’s pilgrimage as a kind of unfolding mystery, and the scenes seem to develop organically, with the help of serendipity (or rather of the spirits facilitating Douley and his companions’ project). Nevertheless, there are methodical and clear explanations for what the viewer witnesses. Douley’s commentary is also often insightful, especially in relation to the different ways that people who are considered “eccentric” might be treated in so-called modern societies as opposed to cultures that honor the relationship between the living and the dead.

The film is a valuable resource because of all of these elements: the sensitive eye of the director, the mystery of the pilgrimage, and the clear explanations provided throughout. While it might not be suitable for undergraduates, it would be invaluable to a number of different audiences, including graduate students and researchers interested in African spirituality and globalization, and the displacement of traditional religions in favor of Christianity. Filmmakers and researchers interested in innovative ways of seeing and talking about Africa that do not replicate the negative and worn-out clichés will also find it refreshing and useful.