A Alma do Osso

For over forty years, Dominguinhos da Pedra has lived alone in the Brazilian caves of Minas Gerais. He never stops: he cooks, engages in mysterious rituals, stirs his cauldron, transfers sand and water from one pot to another, checks the plastic bags that are hung here and there. He sings, accompanies himself on the guitar or throws out to the elements his incantations, which are brought to life in the film through coloured visions. And then, as if the filmmaker and the hermit had tamed each other, the old man tells of the time when he lived among men. But he is no longer alone, as youngsters gather from far around to listen to him. When the filmmaker shows the old man his images, he laughs and leaves the filmmaker his most precious legacy, his knife.