Kardec (film)

Kardec is a 2019 Brazilian biographical drama film directed by Wagner de Assis. The film portrays the life of Allan Kardec, the pseudonym of Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, a French educator, translator, and author who is best known as the systematizer of Spiritism.

The film chronicles Rivail's journey from a respected academic to the founder of a new philosophical and religious movement. It depicts his initial skepticism towards spirit phenomena, his rigorous investigation of mediums and spirit communication, and his eventual conviction that the spirit world exists and can communicate with the living.

"Kardec" focuses on the challenges Rivail faced in publishing his seminal work, The Spirits' Book (Le Livre des Esprits), which outlines the fundamental principles of Spiritism. It also portrays the ridicule and opposition he encountered from the scientific community, the Church, and the press, as well as the support he received from early believers in Spiritism. The film explores themes of faith, reason, the search for truth, and the afterlife.