Paper short abstract:

"Descending with Angels" explores two highly different solutions to the same problem: namely Danish Muslims who are possessed by invisible spirits, called jinn. Ethnographic documentary, 75 min. Received the “Special Student Film Award" at Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival (May 2014).

Paper long abstract:

Ethnographic documentary, 75 min. Awarded with the "Special Student Film Award" at the Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival (May 2014).

A Palestinian refugee living in the city of Aarhus has been committed to psychiatric treatment after a severe case of jinn possession which caused him to destroy the interior of a mosque, crash several cars, and insult a number of people. He sees no point in psychotropic medication since his illness has already been treated with Quranic incantations. A psychiatrist and nurse try to understand his point of view but find that even further medication is needed. In the meantime a local imam battles a stubborn jinn-spirit of Iraqi origin and tries to explain the Muslims of Aarhus that they should stop worrying so much about jinn, magic, and other mundane affairs since nothing can harm anyone except by the permission of God. The film compares two systems of treatment that despite vast differences both share a view of healing as operating through submission of faith to an external non-human agency—namely God or biomedicine.

Ethnographic documentary, 75 min. Received the "Special Student Film Award" at Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival (May 2014).