Cannibal rumors, magic mushrooms, and missionaries getting absolutely nowhere.
Once feared by explorers as fierce cannibals, the Mangbetu tribe inhabit the edge of the Zaire rainforest in the heart of Africa. Although they don't eat people any more, they still cling to their traditions of hallucinogenic rituals and retain a deep faith in magic and sorcery, despite the efforts of missionaries to change them.
Direction
Marre's fly-on-wall access without the colonial gaze.
Production
Raw 1980s documentary filmmaking at its unpolished best.
Director
Jeremy Marre
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Mangbetu were fetishized in 19th-century European 'race science' for their elongated skulls—a practice this film deliberately refuses to sensationalize.
Jeremy Marre shot this between sessions for his 'Beats of the Heart' music documentary series, smuggling anthropology gear into Zaire disguised as music equipment.
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