Living with the dead

Reality is fluid, made up of many voices and many views. This is more than postmodern philosophy - it is an understanding of the world held by most non-western cultures.

For the most part, however, 'the west' remains sceptical and opposed to alternative views of reality. White middle-class suburbia silences the voices of people who have experienced ghosts and other paranormal phenomena by refusing to take them seriously.

This documentary listens to the stories of these people and re-enforces their credibility with the authoritative cultural voices of psychology and anthropology. In this way, ghosts come to be seen as one of many existential experiences, which the modern west has cut itself off from, but which have never ceased to make themselves known.

Many people in Grahamstown, a South African frontier settler town, believe in ghosts and have experienced them. To these people, ghosts are real. This documentary explores ordinary people who have experienced extraordinary things, and investigates how they have made sense of these events.

Director / Editor: Kai Lossgott.

Producer: Ntebo Rajuili.

Camera: Kyle O'Donoghue

Kai Lossgott. 2003.
Living with the dead. Documentary Film. Stills from digital video.