https://vimeo.com/blog/post/vimeo-original-documentary-marina-abramovic-in-bra/
Marina Abramovic in Brazil: The Space in Between
The whole journey was healing — in the end, I understood me, in a new period in my life.
Gaining access to all this new otherworldly frontier was not easy, however. Unlike many other documentaries, where filming can be granted via the simple release form, the filmmakers needed to ask permission — from the spirit world. Abramović recalled the issues the crew encountered when attempting to film the healer John of God as he performed both spiritual and physical surgeries — the physical ones included slicing open eyeballs and other body parts, sans anesthesia.
“It was so difficult,” she remembered, “because, first of all, we could not just go there and film all of the operations without any permission. So we went there first to find out if we were allowed to film. And they said, “no, absolutely not — there’s no way.” But John of God said, “˜I am just a man. And I incorporate 120 spirits — at least. So all the spirits have agreed that you’re okay and you can film. So we went there for about ten days until the spirits one day said, “you’re okay,” and then we filmed. This is business in the spirit world!”