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This is an exemplary biography: we are not only introduced to the life of the Belgian Benedictine father Julien (André de Smet), but his thoughts are given recognisable substance through conversations with his friends and a few close allies (his sister Emma, his ex-house keeper Elvire Soen). Father Julien looked like an extravert bon vivant. He developed an individual view of the phenomenon religion, which he reported in his book 'La grande déesse n'est pas morte' (Paris 1983) which was published only with great difficulty. This action, which he was able to elucidate in an interview with RTBF, brought him into conflict with his superiors and other Catholic authorities who could not appreciate his intellectual-spiritual analyses. From his vision of the origin of religious ritual in which the mother goddess was central as the only one responsible for procreation, he argued for a reevaluation of woman and human sexuality in contemporary society. In his opinion, he had discovered a later intrusion of male chauvinism into Christendom: the worship of God the Father is an expression of a patriarchal ideology, against which the Virgin Mary could not compete as a focus for a - mediaeval - cult of courtly love. An unadulterated erotic text from Therese of Avila shows that breeding will out. He therefore criticizes the European norm of shame which he sets against his experience as a missionary in the Congo. It is distressing that, at the end of his life, this powerful and original personality was trapped in the wreckage of his own body. Nonetheless, the last image of this impressive documentary is optimistic and full of trust that all will end well: a photo by Father Julien from 1958 of Marthe Lungwa delightfully suckling at her mother Therese's breast.
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Erik Daams
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Camera, lights: Jan Vlaene, Johan de Neve, Editing: Philippe Boucq, Sound: Guido Godon, Siegfried Rossaert, Paul Delvoie, Benoit Bruwier, Music: Alexander Claeys, Sound mixing: Paul Delvoie, With: Emma De Smet, Elvire Soen, Otto de Nobel, Daniël Desmedt and others, Production: Frie Depraetere, Argos, GSARA, Het Gematigd Zeeklimaat, CBA Bruxelles, RTBF
Vromman - De kunst van het boomhakken
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