‘The Letter’, a feature about witchcraft allegations in Kenya

In the Old Continent, the punishments for witchcraft sound to us inquisitional and from centuries away. But this is not the case elsewhere on the planet. In Kenya, hundreds of elderly people are accused of witchcraft every year, and behind these accusations there is always the same reason: to steal their land. This is how Maia Lekow and Christopher King explain it in their first joint documentary, The Letter, a film that focuses on a specific case of an elderly woman and how her grandson returns to rural origins to help her. The film is chosen by Docs Barcelona as the documentary for the month of March, and will be screened in different spaces in the city in the Catalan capital, starting with Cinemes Girona on March 2. Then, we will have to wait until the 14th for a new pass, in this case at the Teatre de Sarrià, where it will also be screened on the 23rd. The Biblioteca Vilapicina Library i la Torre Llobeta will allow us to follow the history online; will be on Tuesday 16, the same day that you can also go watch The Letter at Casa Elizalde. Finally, both in the Auditori de Sant Martí and in the Ateneu Fort Pienc Civic Centre, the documentary will be shown on the 18th.

For the authors of the documentary, The Letter not only serves to make known through cinema these accusations of witchcraft that are still happening today in certain places, but it also wants to highlight how the values ​​of rural communities have been upset by colonialism and religion. The Letter, too, is a great story of intergenerational love.

More information, here.