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Inside O R G ∀ И T Ǝ M P L E @ccc35 Chaos Communication Congress - in Leipzig- thanks to the KOMONA COLLECTIVE for having us on board #ccc35 #komona #O R G ∀ И T Ǝ M P L E #A И U #temple # (hier: Neue Messe Leipzig) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsTtcvUgtCj/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7mbpiv9xprsp

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WAR WITCH (REBELLE)

the late evening screening of "war witch" on sunday was completely empty. but at least that meant i had the luxury of endless elbow space. i even draped my legs inconsiderately over the front row seats. but ninety minutes later, when the lights came on, i looked about in hope of meeting a fellow soul. some films cry out for casual eye contact as the credits roll-- just the briefest exchange of glances to quietly acknowledge what just transpired. but there was no one.

i felt an identical, unrequited longing at the end of "beasts of the southern wild". on paper, the two movies seem world's apart. "beasts" is a folksy, apocalyptic fable of a young, ferocious girl raising her fists in defiance to the world; "war witch" is a bleak, narcotic account of an abducted, young child-soldier surviving in a world of violence and civil war. yet the two girls share eerily similar lives.

hushpuppy lives in "the bathtub"-- a watery, fringe community just beyond the levees of new orleans. half a world away, komona subsists in a quiet riverbank village on the savannas of sub-saharan africa. h and k's fragile existences are intimately tied to the land, and both live under a canopy of beauty and danger. eventually, their lives are disrupted and forever changed by calamities beyond their control. a monstrous hurricane batters and threatens to swallow hushpuppy's tiny islet and way of life. while for komona, a brutal, seemingly senseless, civil war engulfs her, and forces her to fight, flee, or die.

the day rebels suddenly appear and terrorize komona's village, she is seized, and instructed to shoot her parents-- either they die by her hands, or else be hacked to pieces by the machetes of soldiers. komona's parents tell her to do as she's told. it happens so quickly and so senselessly that there is no heartbreak. rather it is a detached horror and a wordless prologue to what lies ahead.

hushpuppy was on her own long before her father lay dying, bedridden, and "plugged into a wall" at a makeshift FEMA-administered clinic. although surrounded by a tribal family of characters who look out for her, she has always been largely left to fend for herself (where she learns the art of frying cat food for dinner).

the saddest part of "beasts" wasn't the passing of hushpuppy's father wink, but hushpuppy's fleeting, dream-like encounter aboard a floating nightclub with a waitress who might have been her long lost mother. hushpuppy confides to her that she can count on just two fingers the other times she's been picked up and held tightly.

the tenderest moment in "war witch" takes place on the back of a motorcycle when a young boy soldier known only as "the magician" leans forward and wordlessly slides his arms around komona hugging her close. it is a rare moment where they've let their guard down and allow themselves to feel love.

for hushpuppy and komona, it is their one moment of security.

one of my favorite parallels between "beasts" and "war witch" is the magical surrealism weaved throughout both. in "beasts", it is the recurring theme of mythical aurochs which link hushpuppy to the land. in "war witch", it is the white spectral apparitions that only komona can summon when she is intoxicated under the influence of "magic milk" squeezed from the leaves of the jungle.

both films end with hushpuppy and komona returning home and bidding their parent(s) farewell. hushpuppy listens to wink's last heartbeat and lays him to rest in a tiny boat. returning him to the water, she sets it ablaze, and nudges the floating funeral pyre to the horizon.

komona finally makes it back to her village and revisits the tattered site where she was forced to execute her parents. with her bare hands, she buries scraps of their clothing in the sand. she is just fourteen years old.