ANGELS SUICIDE (Thailand, 2000)

Every year the religious Vegetarian Festival is held in the south of Thailand. The participants honor the gods by defying fire, sticking needles through their body and undergoing other physical hardships. They believe that by doing this they can act as a medium for the gods, and after the rituals their wounds and scars are minimal. The festival derives its name from the vegetarian diet to which the participants temporarily subject themselves, to purify their bodies. The origin lies in the reputed healing of a Chinese opera company from malaria through prayer and a vegetarian diet.