The Woman As A Witch (Las Hay)
2021 · 20m · Brazil
Directed by Letícia do Valle
Genres: documentary, essay film, historical
Tones: contemplative, mythic, provocative
The woman as a witch ( Las Hay – original title) is a short documentary that explores the famous witch hunt where many women were persecuted.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Blending documentary with essay-film syntax to rewire how we see historical women as mythic forces rather than victims—it's contrarian without the performative edge, which somehow makes it more dangerous.
Do Valle situates this work in the rigorous lineage of feminist essay cinema and historical reclamation, where form and argument become inseparable; the contemplative pacing and mythic tonality demand the viewer's active interpretive labor.
The choice to treat archival material and oral history as equal registers—neither privileging documentary 'truth' over mythic resonance—creates a space where the filmmaker's restraint becomes the whole argument.
Reviews
The film shows how the image of the witch was shaped over time by society's imagination, bringing reflections to our culture.