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On the day before Easter each year, members of two parishes in Vrontados, a Greek village on an island off the coast of Turkey, begin to shoot thousands of rockets at each other. The spectacle is not some latter day emergence of a schismatic war between two Christian sects. It is Rouketopolemos, or Rocket War, a mock battle between the two churches each year, where each side attempts to strike the other’s bell tower while Easter service is conducted below.

The tradition is a variation of the more widespread Greek practice of having a firework display at churches the night before Easter to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. One tradition has it that the practice began during the Ottoman Turk rule of Greece, which lasted from the 15th to 19th century. In order to celebrate Easter unprosecuted, the two churches in Vrontados faked a civil war by aiming rockets at each other instead of up into the air as other churches might have. The ploy is said to have worked, with Turks staying away, and the tradition continued into modern times.

This short documentary directed by Salomon Ligthelm and shot by Khalid Mohtaseb shows the incredible amount of preparation that goes into setting up the festival – which culminates in an exquisite shower of over 100,000 rockets streaking across the sky.

“This film is a reflection of a sense of devotion that feels lost in the modern world,” the video says. “The idea of giving your heart and soul over to something that you love is at the core of the story.”