Witch Hunters
Synopsis
This challenging, uncompromising film infiltrates the forbidding territories of South Africa’s Northern Transvaal, where over 98 per cent of the population still believe in witchcraft.
The presence of related violent crimes in the area has risen to such an extent that a special Witchcraft Unit has been set up by the police force. Some 207 murders remain unsolved from 1995 alone, with their motives and methods shrouded in mysticism and extreme barbarity. Whenever there is a lightning storm, there is the belief that someone – a witch – is behind it. Chief among the murder techniques is ‘necklacing’ which involves a rubber tyre doused in petrol and set alight being hung around the victim’s neck. Investigating these murders can be equally dangerous, but the police are attempting to reintroduce exiled ‘witches’ to their villages in an effort to control the paranoia.
This challenging, uncompromising film infiltrates the forbidding territories of South Africa’s Northern Transvaal, where over 98 per cent of the population still believe in witchcraft.
The presence of related violent crimes in the area has risen to such an extent that a special Witchcraft Unit has been set up by the police force. Some 207 murders remain unsolved from 1995 alone, with their motives and methods shrouded in mysticism and extreme barbarity. Whenever there is a lightning storm, there is the belief that someone – a witch – is behind it. Chief among the murder techniques is ‘necklacing’ which involves a rubber tyre doused in petrol and set alight being hung around the victim’s neck. Investigating these murders can be equally dangerous, but the police are attempting to reintroduce exiled ‘witches’ to their villages in an effort to control the paranoia.
Duration
1 x 26'
Definition
SD
Genre
History
Subgenre
Factual
Producer
IDEAL WORLD PRODUCTIONS LTD