Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance festival, the documentary vigour of Dornford-May’s restaging of the Gospels in modern Africa jolts us into new responses.

A powerful account of one state’s struggle for democracy culminates in the Massacre of the Innocents by a militia group armed with machetes  – ‘It doesn’t strain to draw parallels with world events because it doesn’t have to’, noted critic Roger Ebert.

But a lyricism persists in the beguiling presence of the angel Gabriel (an African boy with feathers glued to his shoulders) and in the gentle message of Jesus (Andile Kosi) conveyed through the poetic landscapes of Africa, its emotive rhythms and song.

Short: 'Feet of Song' (Erica Russell, 1988) 5 mins 
Hand-drawn dance animation based on African colours and rhythms.

Image above: Detail of still from 'Son of Man' Credit Spier films/Source BFI.