Very interesting attempt to explain the actions of a foreign culture without stooping to the level of simplifying it or altering it to fit a western paradigm. Byrne successfully conveys the emotional, cultural, and religious meaning of this spirit-possession ritual through imagery using a split screen to associate various semiotic visual `clues' which are then repeated later and used as a sort of `visual language' to illustrate `meaning' by associating what is happening in the Ile Aiye ritual with cultural observances made earlier in the documentary. A very interesting and educational film which takes several viewings to `decode' and comprehend. A few years ago I taught a `Cultural Diversity' course for Western Kentucky University and I used this film in class.
