ESU & THE UNIVERSE

EXU & O UNIVERSO

By Thiago ZANATO

DRUZINA CONTENT - as PROD

Documentary - Completed 2022

A documentary about the struggle for religious freedom and the influence of the African Yoruba people in Brazil and around the world.

Festivals
& Awards

Rio de Janeiro IFF 2022
Première Brasil: Documentary Feature Film Competition​
Sao Paulo IFF 2022
Audience Award for Best Brazilian Documentary Feature
    • Year of production
    • 2022
    • Genres
    • Documentary
    • Countries
    • BRAZIL
    • Duration
    • 95 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Thiago ZANATO
    • Producer(s)
    • Adriana BARBOSA (En Caliente), Luciana DRUZINA (Druzina Content)
    • Synopsis
    • Racism and colonialism became systemic issues, and this is more evident than ever in our societies today. We follow the struggle of Prof. King, a Nigerian professor that immigrated to Brazil in the 80s, as he writes a dictionary to correct the “mistakes” colonizers made when translating sacred terms from Yoruba to English - the most appalling example being the translation of “Esu” (an African deity) as the “Devil”. Prof. King and other characters take us on a journey through Nigeria, Brazil and Europe, as we are forced to look deep inside and rethink our racist imaginary and realize how our symbolic forms of representation are still deeply rooted in colonialism.