In Benin, an old Peugot is passed on from one owner to the next. Until the very day the car, beyond repair, ends up as an abandoned carcass in the street and finally serves as the protecting fetish of the Ouassa villagers.
Divine carcasse retraces the fate of an old Peugeot that arrives in Cotonou, Benin. There, the car is passed on from one owner to the next. The film accompanies every owner throughout daily life. First, there’s Simon, who moves in the closed world of humanitarian aid workers; next, there’s Joseph, Simon’s cook, who uses the car as a clandestine taxi; finally, a bunch of car mechanics trying to bring the car back to life every time it breaks down. Until the very day the car, beyond repair, ends up as an abandoned carcass in the street . At that moment, Simonet, a blacksmith and sculptor, salvages some car parts to make the sculpture of Agbo, voodoo god of the “masters of the night,” commissioned by the wise men of the village of Ouassa. After a long trip by dugout canoe through the Benin lagoons, the sculpture will finally serve as the protecting fetish of the inhabitants of Ouassa.