One of a series of films examining in detail the use of the traditional African mbira in the cultural life of the Mashona people of Rhodesia. Establishes the essential religious background for further films in the series by examining the life of a man in his middle forties. He is seen in politically troubled Salisbury, Rhodesia, where he works as the head of the messengers' pool at Anglo-American. Shows some of his life at work in a western urban town and at home in the tribal lands on the weekend. He hosts an all-night bira, or spirit seance; the main expression of Shona religious ritual, at his home in the country. His sister is the family medium, his grandfather the spirit who possesses her, and the guests members of his family, past and present, and neighbors. Produced by ethnomusicologists Gei Zantzinger and Andrew Tracey.
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