2021 | Documentary | 11 min. | Russia | 12+
It turns out that the pagan tradition, rooted in the Middle Ages, continues to live today in the Austrian province of Tirol. Every December, more than twenty distinctive teams put on their costumes and masks, take drums and take to the streets and squares of old Austrian cities and villages to immerse the shocked spectator for several days in an extravaganza of tribal rhythms and fire.
Directors Statement
Two years ago I worked in Austria and one evening on the way from the shooting, passing a small village, I saw a huge crowd of people in the central square in front of the church. It was so atypical for a calm, uncrowded Tirol that it became very interesting for me to see what was going on there ?! And I saw them! At first I just couldn't believe my eyes! It was something unreal! Huge scary masks and costumes, wild tribal drum rhythms, outlandish pipes, cauldrons of fire, fire from the mouth ... some crazy devilish picture. It turned out that they call themselves that - Tirolean devils. Almost every small village has its own team. This is a medieval pagan tradition still alive today. It's so great that young people are taking part in this. For many team members, this is also a family tradition: dads bring sons, uncles, nephews. Preparation for performances takes several months! And all this for the sake of 3 days a year in early December to go free to the squares of small Tirolean towns and villages to scare people and the approaching winter. I really wanted to tell you about the devils. After all, almost no one knows about such a wonderful tradition! And a year after we did it, Pavel and I returned to Austria, spent several days with one of the teams - “Seidä Pass”, and this film appeared. By the way, for both of us this is debut as movie directors :) Enjoy the show!
Directors: Anastasia Lebedeva and Pavel Yankevich
Producer: Anastasia Lebedeva
