NEVE SHALOM SYNAGOGUE

The first place in the film is the central location, the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Paramaribo Suriname, where the main character, played and danced by Honore van Ommeren, experiences the calls from all of her ancestors of her mixed heritage and cannot leave until she honors each of them through dance and ritual.

CHINESE CULTURE

A Chinese man—an ancestor descendant of a contract worker—places a jade stone in Honore’s hand, which begins her journey. Jade is important in Chinese culture and symbolizes spirituality and wisdom, among other things.

JAVANESE ANCESTRY

Second, Honore’s Javanese ancestor comes calling. Together, they perform part of what is left of the Javanese dances alongside Pae, an elder in the Javanese community. The Javanese contract workers from Indonesia arrived in Suriname in 1890.

The first indentured Hindustanies came to Suriname in 1873. They now make up about 22% of the Surinamese population, and Hinduism is one of the largest religions in the country. The dancer portraying Honore’s Hindu ancestor in the film is one of the people in Suriname currently working to keep Indian dance and music alive.

JEWISH COMMUNITY

The Jewish Community in Suriname is very small today, but it once was larger. The Jewish people came to Suriname (formerly, Dutch Guyana) during the Spanish and Portuguese inquisition because the Dutch allowed for freedom of religion and ownership of land. They formed an independent nation within Suriname as early as 1639. Controversially, they were also slaveholders. Intermingling fully, so many Creole (mixed-race Jews) were conceived that from 1700 until 1800, there was a synagogue for Jewish people of color. This synagogue burnt down in 1800. As you will notice in the film, the Jewish people in Suriname are all mixed-race.

The only Jewish cast member who is not from Suriname is the rabbi and cantor, Rabbi Menno Ten Brink. He is the lead rabbi at the Liberale Joodse Gemeente in Amsterdam. When I first talked to him about the film, he told me he wanted to come sing. Ten years later, I asked him to do so, and he developed a relationship with the community, who do not have a rabbi.

JODEN SAVANNE

Joden Savanne was the first settlement of the Jewish people in the new world, and in September 2023, it was named a World Heritage Site. It was also called “Little Jerusalem by the river,” where the Creole and those enslaved by the Jewish people were buried. This part is known as the African/Creole cemetery. In the film, Honore gets transported to this place, and we also see the cemetery where the Jewish people were buried, but she never dances there. The creek in the film is believed to have water with healing capabilities. To find out more about the site and the Jewish heritage, look into this bibliography.

MARRONs: Santigron Village

The woman singing inside the synagogue sings in Aukaans, (N’Djuka). Her name is Norma Sante—a singer and dancer who often sings in her native language.

The dance with ankle bands (Kawaai) is a mix of the Awasa dance and Aleka dance. Norma Sante and the other dancers are from the N’Djuka tribe, and the dance, called “Brooklyn,” was filmed right outside the Marron village of Santigron.

Swamps of Suriname

The magical boat ride in the film passes through the swamps in the coastal area near the Johan and Margaretha villages. It is easy to reach from Frederiksdorp. The area is rich in nature—and mosquitoes—and in the water, there are live shrimp and caimans (you can see a baby caiman in the film). The swamps end at the ocean, where the mangrove trees protect much of the land. The sand that moves from the Amazon river to the Atlantic creates an otherworldly landscape.

WINTI-PREY

Honore finds herself in a Winti-Prey, a dance celebration that is part of the Winti religion, an African Diaspora syncretic religion from Suriname and the Suriname Diaspora. During the Winti-Prey ritual, a Winti (deity) can possess the participants.

INGI WASI

In one of the last scenes of the film, we meet Tante Neste, a shaman and elder who belongs to the largest native group in Suriname: de Karaïben (the Caribs). In the ceremony, Tante Nesta—while inhabiting the ancestral spirits—gives Honore a traditional Ingi Wasi (Indigenous washing), an herb bath to cleanse and purify the spirit. The giant Kankantri anchors both the ritual and the film.