‘Summer of Gods’ (2014)
Eliciana Nascimento is an up-and-coming Brazilian filmmaker of “Summer of Gods.” In her 20-minute short, she explores the mystical Bahia, a region in northern Brazil that is heavily populated with African descendants and the traditions they brought across the ocean.
At the center of the movie is “Lili,” played by a charming young girl who made her acting debut in this role. “Lili” is struggling to understand the spiritual gifts she has inherited from her grandmother, a priestess in the Candomble faith, which combines elements of orisha worship from Nigeria with the veneration of the Catholic saints. As the beautifully shot, dreamlike film progresses, “Lili” meets several orishas, including the well-known archetypes Yemaya and Oshun.
