Screen/Society -- Indigenous Women Filmmakers in Brazil | Amazon Lab Film Series

The Amazon Lab presents a screening featuring recent short films created by Indigenous women in Brazil. This curated program highlights the diversity and range of Indigenous women's cinema, challenging preconceived notions and shedding light on the unique perspectives of these emerging filmmakers. The films range from the documentary records of rituals to experimental films informed by Indigenous cosmovisions. These films explore themes such as gender dynamics, cultural practices as forms of resistance, and Indigenous responses to the climate crisis.

Program:

"Thuë Pihi Kuuwi" - Uma Mulher Pensando / A Woman Thinking
(Aida Harika Yanomami, Edmar Tokorino Yanomami and Roseane Yariana Yanomami, 2023, 9 min)

A Yanomami woman observes a shaman during the preparation of the Yãkoana, the food of the spirits. Through the narrative of a young indigenous woman, the Yãkoana that feeds the Xapiri and allows shamans to enter the world of spirits also proposes a meeting of perspectives and imaginations.

"Jeroky Gwasu" - Grande Canto
(Michele Perito Concianza Kaiowá, 2021, 12 min)

This immersive film explores the Great Kaiowá Chant performed in the Panambizinho and Panambi Villages, located in Mato Grosso do Sul. The film captures the step-by-step process of this significant practice, with a particular emphasis on the sensory experiences involved, highlighting the sounds of the instruments and the movements of the community members as they come together.

"Kaapora, O Chamado das Matas" - Kaapora, The Calling of the Woods
(Olinda Tupinambá, 2020, 20 min)

A narrative of the connection of Indigenous Peoples with the Earth and their spirituality, from the point of view of the indigenous woman Olinda, who develops an environmental recovery project on her people's lands. With the indigenous cosmovision as a lens, the Kaapora and other spiritual characters are the central line of the film's narrative and argument.

"Yãy Tu Nunãhã Payexop" - Encontro de Pajés
(Sueli Maxacali, 2021, 26 min)

In July 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, approximately 100 Tikmῦ'ῦn-Maxakali families left the Aldeia Verde reservation (Ladainha, MG) in search of a new land. The tension caused by isolation made even more urgent the need for a land rich in forests and, above all, water, in which they could strengthen their relationships with the yãmĩyxop spirit people, through songs, rituals, celebrations, and games.