Associação Cultural Videobrasil

The filmmaker and documentarian from Manaus comments on his O Sangue da Terra (Earth’s Blood, 1984) video, featured in the 2nd Festival’s competitive show. In his speech, Aurélio Michiles comments on the fact that his video was originally funded by the National Indian Foundation (Funai) to portray guaraná farming by the Sateré-Mawé tribe. During his time with the natives, they warned him that an oil company had trespassed into their territory. The filmmaker tells that the demarcated land was invaded, deforested and bombed for oil, and discusses the level of awareness of the natives, who organized themselves to go to court, using the same methods as the white man’s. They were indemnified and their territory was demarcated again, and Michiles believes he saw the meek defeat a giant. In his statement, he also comments on the technical difficulties he experienced during filming, and his alternative use of chroma keying. He also speaks on Associação Cultural Videobrasil’s relevance in preserving historical video recordings – nowadays, new technologies allow images to be recorded easily, but they often get lost in ephemerality and immediacy.