Netherlands

74’52’’, 2021.

DIRECTED BY

Mattijs van de Port

PRODUCED BY

Mattijs van de Port

SCRIPTWRITER

Mattijs van de Port

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Mattijs van de Port

EDITED BY

Mattijs van de Port

CONTACT

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The Body Won’t Close is a poetic exploration of the dilemmas that follow from the fact that human bodies are highly porous entities, intimately connected to the world. The film follows the legend of Besouro Mangangá, a black capoeira player from the town of Santo Amaro, Bahia (Brazil). Besouro had invoked all of Bahia’s magic to close his body. No bullets, no knives or daggers could pierce his skin. But his enemies knew that all these magical protections are undone in the sexual act, and so they send a beautiful woman his way...

Mattijs van de Port is an anthropologist who carried out research in Serbia, the Netherlands, and Brazil. He made several films, which were selected for and awarded at many ethnographic film festivals. “The Body Won’t Close” received the Basil Wright Film Prize at the 2021 RAI Filmfestival.

trailer THE BODY WON'T CLOSE from Mattijs van de Port on Vimeo.