Hysteries

Interspersed with documentation of dancer Juliana Carneiro da Cunha’s "Possession" performance, which draws from Christian mysticism, in the filmmaker’s words this experimental short is about “the psychic suffering of women in a patriarchal society”. It takes the viewer on a disorienting journey—with abrupt cuts in sound and image—through the Catholic Church, repressed sexuality, racial violence perpetrated by white women, maternal fatigue, male chauvinism and drug addiction…

Directed by Maria Inês Nunes de Castilho, Hysteries leans on a strong ensemble — Juliana Carneiro da Cunha, Isa Castro, Maria Rita Kehl — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 1983.