Tarantism Revisited

(2024)

Genres: Documentary

Year: 2024

Runtime: 105 мин

Country: Germany, Switzerland

Director: Anja Dreschke, Michaela Schäuble

Cast: Birgit Minichmayr

Plot

Apulia, 1959: Women in white dresses dance ecstatically in a small chapel. They jump around, roll on the ground, some even climb the altar. They are said to have been bitten by a spider. Their dancing mania requires a ritual exorcism with music. Pictures like these inspired Italian anthropologists to travel to southern Italy. Equipped with tape recorders, film and photo cameras, they tracked down the phenomenon of tarantism.