In the Mediterranean island of Corsica, the mythical and social figure of the mazzere has premonitory dreams wherein he or she hunts the souls of the living. In these dreams, the mazzere goes out at night to kill the first animal encountered. When the animal is fatally struck and the dreamer turns its body over, the face and the cry of a fellow villager momentarily consume those of the dying beast and within a year, that person will die. Éperdument (Madly) is composed of a three-channel video installation and a publication of short stories portraying the mazzere through the presence of the landscape, the condition of women and the persistence of the Corsican language and culture. The videos include audio recordings of telephone conversations and interviews with four contemporary writers and an eyewitness, as well as a performance of a revolutionary song mourning the death of a nationalist fighter. In this place of transformation and translation — between oral and written, animal and human, male and female, factual and fictional — the work investigates how the story of the mazzere enlivens Corsican identity.

Duration of three-channel video installation : 22mn 42s. Duration of excerpt shown above: 10m.

Voices in order of appearance: Thérèse Franceschi-Andreani, Paul Peraldi, Éveline Galloni d’Istria, Georges Ravis-Giordani, Marie Ferranti, Micheli Leccia and Jean-Claude Rogliano. 

Song: A Filetta. Sumiglia (1992) performed by Micheli Leccia.