Les Possédés d’Illfurth

In the mid-19th century, in the village of Illfurth in southern Alsace, strange phenomena are shaking the modest Burner family. Joseph, aged 7, and Thiébaut, aged 9, are suddenly afflicted by a mysterious and spectacular illness. Religious authorities agree to declare the two children possessed by demonic spirits and proceed to exorcise them.

A native of this village, actor and director Lionel Lingelser shared this ancestral legend with Yann Verburgh. Through the character of Hélios, a fantasized avatar of the child he was, he summons his demons, sets out to encounter his "intimate wound" and by also evoking his theatrical journey weaves an imaginary and poetic thread between these intersecting stories, their abysses and their wounds in a powerful initiatory journey.

A path of resilience borne of joy, celebrating the power of the imagination and affirming the saving power of theater.

This text pays homage to the part of childhood and innocence where all fantasies are possible, and which helps the imaginary transform itself into a refuge, an unshakeable fortress against the onslaught of reality.