Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

See what’s playing
Acera, or The Witches' Dance
Acera, or The Witches' Dance
7.8
/10
788 Ratings

ACERA, OR THE WITCHES' DANCE

Acera, ou Le Bal des sorcières

Directed by Jean Painlevé, Geneviève Hamon
France, 1972
Documentary, Short, Avant-Garde

Synopsis

In mud flats along the coast of Brittany we watch acera, small ball-shaped mollusks that are about two inches in diameter. They rest in mud; then, in water, their skirt-like hood dances as they spin and spin. The film also details the mollusks’ ritual mating habits.

Synopsis

In mud flats along the coast of Brittany we watch acera, small ball-shaped mollusks that are about two inches in diameter. They rest in mud; then, in water, their skirt-like hood dances as they spin and spin. The film also details the mollusks’ ritual mating habits.

Our take

Taking footage extraordinary in its own right, then stylizing and elevating it to cinema, Jean Painlevé pairs sound and image in humorous (and provocative) juxtapositions. The result is, at one moment, whimsical and balletic, and the next, capturing the feeling of urgency or panic of a horror film.