Linda Västrik’s breathtaking documentary “Forest of the Dancing Spirits†teaches me that the Earth is bountiful, that life can be lived in a myriad of ways, but that the threats to this diversity are enormous….
Ingrid Norrman, Culture Editor
GT…the documentary “Forest of the Dancing Spirits†is Presence. Time compressed to film images and every day life situations. The movie builds its bridge over colonial cliffs. Here, the Stranger with her traditions and her life is transformed to being Human. Here, they come out of the exotic to meet with us and tell us about their lives. About the yearning for children and grief for those that died. About life’s origin and how life goes. About opression and celebration…
Gunnar Bergdahl, Culture Editor
Helsingborgs Dagblad“Forest of the Dancing Spirits†is a fascinating portrayal of everyday life, religion, mythology, existential issues, the yearning for children and childlessness. Above all it is a story by and about individuals, sometimes painfully close. The documentary is also liberatingly void of corrective and explanatory directions from the director herself. The Aka are the subjects in the movie about themselves…
As emotionally taxing as it can be, Forest of the Dancing Spirits is worth watching for the rare look at the beginning of the end of a way of life for an entire culture it provides.
Indigenous people portrait without moral pointers – 5 out of 5
Erika Hallhagen
Svenska DagbladetAmazing. Prejudicm about isolated tribes turned upside down – 4 out of 5
Not the white man’s history – 4 out of 5
Fredrik Sahlin
Kulturnyheterna, SVTThe lives of slaves depicted with a sense of pace – 4 out of 5