CPH:DOX 2013: The Exorcist in the 21st Century

The Exorcist in the 21st Century

Director: Fredrik Horn Akselsen | Norway 2012 | 80 min

- "Exorcism is a battle between light and all the demonic powers of darkness," as the priest José Antonio Fortea explains. And he knows what he's talking about. Fortea specialises in demonology and is among the few exorcists officially approved by the Vatican. And he is a superstar among Catholics all over the world, where he travels around exorcising demons - and here for the first time with a film camera on his heels, as he with prayers as his only weapon tries to heal an articulate and university-educated 40-year-old Colombian woman, who for 15 years has been haunted by symptoms of a disease which she does not think can be explained through psychology or medicine. But can faith really move mountains? And do demons really exist? Or does the fascination of the inexplicable simply serve as a crowd puller for the powerful religious elite in the Vatican? The Norwegian filmmaker Fredrik Horn Akselsen has made a nuanced film, which in a balanced way gives both critics and supporters of the phenomenon the word - while succeeding in showing what an enormous influence faith can have on one's perception of reality. A film about the occult in a century where religion and superstition has experienced a renaissance.

The Exorcist in the 21st Century (Norway, 2012, 80 min.)
Director: Fredrik Horn Akselsen. Script: Fredrik Horn Akselsen and Christian Falch. Camera: Ola Andreas Grøntvedt and Viggo Knudsen. Sound: Sander S. Olsen and Morten Stendahl. Edit: Anders Teigen. : Bishop Bernt Eidsvig, Olav Muller, Guillermo, Archbishop Juan Blas, Fr Juan Masia. Cast: Fr. José Antonio Fortea, Constanza, Fr. Gabrielle Amorth. Producer: Christian Falch. Production: Gammaglimt AS.
English Version.