Tarantism Revisited

Apulia, 1959: Women in white dresses dance ecstatically in a small chapel. They jump around, roll on the floor, some even climb the altar. Known as 'tarantate', they are said to be suffering from a poisonous spider bite. Their 'dancing mania' requires a ritual exorcism with music. Images like these inspired Italian anthropologists to travel to southern Italy. Accompanied by filmmakers and photographers, they researched the phenomenon of tarantism. The essayistic documentary film TARANTISM REVISITED follows the extensive archival traces of this research trip and visits the places and landscapes of its origins. This filmic search is framed by the unique correspondence between a 'tarantata' and one of the researchers. By interweaving images and voices from the past with the present, TARANTISM REVISITED explores the complex history and diverse forms in which tarantism lives on to this day.