ISAEL MAXAKALI (Brazil, 1978)is a filmmaker and indigenous leader of Aldeia Verde, Reserva Maxakali (Ladainha-MG, Brazil). In 2008 he founded with Suely Maxakali, in partnership with non-indigenous filmmakers, the non-governmental organization Pajé Filmes, a video producer responsible for editing and publicizing material filmed and directed by the actual Maxakali people. He is currently a city councilor of Ladainha and teaches at the Program for Transversal Learning in Traditional Knowledge of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).
RONEY FREITAS (Brazil, 1983) is a master’s student in media and audiovisual processes and has a bachelor’s degree in audiovisual (USP). Active in the audiovisual market as a screenwriter, director and producer, he worked as director and screenwriter of the short films Laurita (2009) and Aurora (2011) and the documentaries Memória de Rio [River’s Memory] and Grin, acclaimed in several national and international festivals. He wrote the script for the animation film Canta, TYETÉ [Sing, TYETÉ] produced by Núcleo Paulistano de Animação (NUPA), featured in the Vimeo Staff Pick (New York). He currently produces independent films at Arte in Vitro Filmes, a company of which he is a producer and partner.
A Maxakali filmmaker elicits memories of the Indigenous Rural Guard (GRIN) during the military dictatorship in Brazil, with reports of violence suffered by their relatives. The film GRIN (2016) was made over two months of field research with producers from Aldeia Verde, in different towns and villages of Minas Gerais.
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- Further info on GRIN in Collection