Seven nights and seven days

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Description

This beautifully photographed film documents an unusual healing ceremony in Senegal. It shows how a community gathers together to treat and heal one of its members who is suffering from postpartum depression. After giving birth, the young woman refuses to care for her child. Years before her mother and grandmother had been treated for a similar illness by the same shaman, Fat Seck. The ceremony, called the Ndepp, is organized by the Lebou people of Senegal to honor their ancestral spirits and to ask them to allow a cure to take place. Performed over seven days and nights, the Ndepp is complicated with a precise set of rules. A large part of the population participates. Fat Seck, the healer, resolves this family problem. Trances and sacrifices are part of the cure. After the week, the young woman is restored to normal behavior, an effective mother and community member.