| Variant title |
Shadows & illuminations |
| Series |
Ethnographic video online, volume 2
|
| Abstract |
Shadows & Illuminations follows an older Balinese man, Nyoman Kereta, as he struggles with the intrusion of spirits into his consciousness. Kereta says he has been living in two worlds, the world of his family and community and the world of the spirits, for the past 40 years. His experiences skirt the borders of cultural and spiritual norms, simultaneously manifesting and exceeding Balinese beliefs about the supernatural world and the possibilities for human interaction with it. Kereta's reported experiences seem credible or explicable to some, bizarre and extraordinary to others, enigmatic or doubtful to his wife, and the sign of major mental illness to his psychiatrist. The film documents his painful history of trauma, loss and poisoning, and draws on his other family member's interpretations of how to understand his struggles and distress. Central questions of how to interpret his experiences, and what role a schizophrenia diagnosis entails are explored. |
| General note | Title from resource description page (viewed Feb. 6, 2014). |
| Date/time/place of a event note | Recorded in 1997 in Bali, Indonesia. |
| Other forms | Previously released as DVD. |
| Reproduction note | Electronic reproduction. Alexandria, VA : Alexander Street Press, 2014. (Ethnographic video online, volume 2). Available via World Wide Web. |
| Language | This edition in English and Balinese with English subtitles. |
| Genre/form | Documentary films. |
