Acera, or the Witches' Dance

(1972)

★ 5.9 IMDb · 17 votes

Genres: Documentary

Year: 1972

Runtime: 13 мин

Country: France

Director: Jean Painlevé, Geneviève Hamon

Plot

In mud flats along the coast of Brittany we watch acera, small ball-shaped mollusks that are about two inches in diameter. They rest in mud; then, in water, they dance, their skirt-like hood spreading like a dervish's cassock. They spin and spin. The film adds musical accompaniment. We watch them mate and secrete eggs: acera are both male and female, and can form chains with other acera in which they simultaneously mate as a male and as a female. The eggs hatch, and the cycle begins again.