C. S. Nicholson

Martine de Souza, a Beninese tour guide and direct descendant of notorious slave trader Francisco Félix 'Chacha' de Souza, defies her powerful family by speaking publicly about his crimes. She even supports the land rights of farmers whose ancestors were enslaved by her forebear. But when Martine is unexpectedly made second-in-command of the de Souza dynasty, she needs to decide whether she’s going to continue to fight for truth and land rights, or choose the narrative—and property—of her own family.

 

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From the Chicago Underground Film Festival’s programme:

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Structured through mesmerizing Vodun possession ceremonies in which ancestors and the enslaved return to inhabit the living, the film allows history, ritual, politics, and spiritual experience to occupy the same space. Rather than explaining the afterlife of empire, it inhabits its contradictions, revealing how power, memory, belief, and identity continue to shape the present.

 

A haunting and formally adventurous work that transforms documentary into an experience as mysterious as its subject, A Stranger Has No Eyes is a powerful meditation on inheritance, history, and the enduring ghosts of colonialism.

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CREDITS

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​Featuring: Martine de Souza | Vodounnon Odjo | Jeanne Paule Gouvidé

Also featuring: Ekelodjouoti | Obadimedji | Gbebo

Director/producer/editor: C. S. Nicholson

Cinematographer: Peder Bratterud

Composer/sound recordist: Stian Kjelstad Granmo

Location sound: Øyvind Stjern | Sindre Skollevoll

Sound design: Anna Antille-Nilsson

Grade: Jens Valberg

Co-production: Mari Nilsen Neira @ Herstory

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Genre: Nonfiction feature

Year: 2026

Running time: 129 mins.

Country: Norway, Benin

Original languages: English | Fon | French | Mina | Yoruba

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AWARDS

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BEST DOCUMENTARY | Chicago Underground Film Festival

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SCREENINGS

 

2026

The 33rd Chicago Underground Film Festival (USA)