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Editor's Note:
This month our newsletter is dedicated to Virginia Valado, co-founder and director of the Center for Indigenist Work (CTI), a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the land rights of Brazilian indigenous peoples, training them in the use of video, and facilitating communications between tribal groups. Virginia died suddenly this past August. She was an integral part of the of CTI, carrying out tireless fundraising activities and providing an international profile for the CTI's work. In the area of media production and distribution, she collaborated with her husband, Vincent Carelli on the titles listed below. Like other members of the CTI, Virginia was committed to the notion that documentaries, like all other professional work connected to the past, present, and future of Brazil's indigenous populations, could only be based on extensive experiential knowledge, continuous communication, and collaborative relationships based on equitable forms of cultural exchange, respect, and trust. Her loss is felt not only by her family and international colleagues, but also by countless indigenous friends in Brazil and Latin America.
Yakwa: Banquet of the Spirits Get Details and Purchasing Info
Virginia Valadao
Documentary 54 minutes 1995
With English subtitles
THE BANQUET OF THE SPIRITS, an astoundingly beautiful documentary of the Enauwene Naue Indians of Northern Brazil, who decided that their first images on video should be of a months long harvest ritual, performed for Virginia's and Vincent's cameras. For 7 months every year, the spirits of the dead are venerated with offerings of food, song and dance so they will protect the community and bless it with an abundant harvest and great quantities of fish. It includes; The Sacred Flutes, Dataware's Revenge, Harikare: The Spirit's Host and The Little Cassava Girl.
Purchase Price: $ 99.95
One Has To Be Curious Get Details and Purchasing Info
Caimi Waiasse (Xavante)
Documentary 16 minutes 1996
With English subtitles
The videomaker comments on the introduction of video documentation to his village in the Brazilian Amazon.
Purchase Price: $ 79.95
Signs Don't Speak Get Details and Purchasing Info
Dominique Gallois/Vincent Carelli
Documentary 27 minutes 1997
With English subtitles
The Waiapi Indians of northern Brazil organize and successfully expel gold prospectors from their land; they demarcate their own territory to protect it from future devastation.
Purchase Price: $ 99.95
Message From Brazil, A Get Details
George Stoney
Documentary 18 minutes 1984
With English subtitles
On director Stoney's first visit with the indigenous Brazilian tribe, the Krahos, he observes celebration and a ceremony marking the days when governance of the group passed from the "water" people to the "sun" people. Cheif Alexai Po Hi addresses the Indians of North America. (Part of a three part series, spanning ten years, in which director Stoney charts the progress and decline of this indigenous Brazilian tribe.)
Jungle Secrets Get Details and Purchasing Info
Dominique Gallios and Vincent Carelli
Documentary 13 minutes 1998
With English subtitles
Four tales about cannibal monsters narrated and performed by the Waipai Indians. "We have made the video," say the Waipai, "to teach people to be more careful with monsters they never heard about. Even a white man can be eaten as he goes into the forest"
Purchase Price: $ 79.95
Meeting Ancestors: The Zo'e Get Details and Purchasing Info
Vincent Carelli and Dominique Gallois
Documentary 22 minutes 1993
With English subtitles
Now considered a classic, this documentary shows the power of video as a tool of communication when appropriated by indigenous communities. Chief Waiwai, accompanied by a group of his fellow Waiapi Indians, takes a trip to meet the Zo'e, an isolated indigenous group whom the Waiwai previously knew only through video. The Zo'e, increasingly in touch with the outside world, are now experiencing the phenomena of contact that the Waiapi went through twenty years ago. By sharing their customs with their visitors, the Zo'e allow the Waiapi to reconnect with the wisdom of their ancestors. The Waiapi, in turn, use video footage to warn the Zo'e about the dangers of the white world.
Purchase Price: $ 99.95
We Gather as a Family Get Details and Purchasing Info
Vincent Carelli
Documentary 32 minutes 1993
With English subtitles
This tape documents the cultural exchange between two Brazilian tribal groups, the Parakateje and the Kraho.
Purchase Price: $ 99.95
Video Cannibalism Get Details and Purchasing Info
Vincent Carelli
Documentary 16 minutes 1994
With English subtitles
In a cultural exchange CTI staff introduce the Euanuene tribe to video. The goal of the project is to inform them about the outside world, as well as to capture on tape what they want to share with others about their culture. Very comfortable with themselves and their bodies, the men do not hesitate to be on camera, in fact thay are eager to playfully jump around and show off their manhood. Sexuality is present in their everyday lives, and is very much a part of their myths and rituals. The women however, are more reserved about appearing in the tape and are afraid that once everyone sees the tapes, they will be made fun of and humiliated. The Euanuene are also shown movies that have been made about other Indian tribes, such as Dances With Wolves. Although fascinated and touched by the movie, they did not understand that the actors had not actually been killed. Once they understood it was a reenactment of an historical event, they decided that they too would reenact a scene from their history: the attack of "Cinta-Larga."
Purchase Price: $ 79.95
Free For All in Sarare Get Details and Purchasing Info
Vincent Carelli
Documentary 27 minutes 1992
With English subtitles
More than 6,000 gold and mineral prospectors have invaded the reserve of the Nambiquara of Saráre, and the loggers in the region raid their mahogany-rich forests, stealing wood which is becoming extinct in Amazonia. Only pressure on the World Bank, with whom the Government of Mato Grosso is negotiating a loan, could bring prospecting to a close...but the pillage of the forest continues.
Purchase Price: $ 99.95
Girl's Celebration, The Get Details and Purchasing Info
Vincent Carelli
Documentary 18 minutes 1987
With English subtitles
A history of the Nambiquara people and their use of video as a tool in cultural preservation. The Nambiquara tape their dance patterns and compare them to performances of the same dance by other clans. When they re-play the tape, the Nambiquara realize that they appear very occidental and feel that they are losing their own identity. They decide to re-tape the same dance, wearing traditional clothing. As a way of symbolically recovering their identity, the men ceremonially pierce their noses and lips using wooden sticks without anesthesia.
Purchase Price: $ 79.95
Jane Moraita, Our Celebrations Get Details and Purchasing Info
Kasiripina Waiapi
Documentary 32 minutes 1995
With English subtitles
A CTI-trained Waiapi videomaker from Brazil's upper Amazon documents rituals of his people, and travels to Sao Paulo to edit the video tape. The videomaker explains the rituals as he edits his tape and explains why and how his people use video to preserve their culture.
Purchase Price: $ 99.95
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The Work of George Stoney
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Message From Brazil, A Get Details
George Stoney
Documentary 18 minutes 1984
With English subtitles
On director Stoney's first visit with the indigenous Brazilian tribe, the Krahos, he observes celebration and a ceremony marking the days when governance of the group passed from the "water" people to the "sun" people. Cheif Alexai Po Hi addresses the Indians of North America. (Part of a three part series, spanning ten years, in which director Stoney charts the progress and decline of this indigenous Brazilian tribe.)
Kraho Revisited, The Get Details
George Stoney
Documentary 30 minutes 1989
With English subtitles
With Brazilian filmmaker Andrea Tonacci and native people's advocate Paolo Cesar in tow, director Stoney sets out on his second visit with the Krahos. This time traditional log races are filmed as well as an interview with a non-native school teacher who has become committed to the tribe. Chief Alexai Po Hi addresses the camera in hopes to educate the public about the threat to his tribe by nearby ranchers who are vying for their land. He asks for political autonomy for his tribe. (Part of a three part series, spanning ten years, in which director Stoney charts the progress and decline of this indigenous Brazilian tribe.)
Krahos Consider Their Future, The Get Details
George Stoney
Documentary 31 minutes 1995
With English subtitles
Concerned with the day-to-day existence of the Kraho tribe, this film follows cheif Alexai Po Hi with his sons into the town of Itacaga to vote. On the reserve we see the education process of both Portugese and the native language and are shown guns confiscated from enemy ranchers. Chief Po Hi states the tribe's need for both independence from government regulation and physical protection. (Part of a three part series, spanning ten years, in whichdirector Stoney charts the progress and decline of this indigenous Brazilian tribe.)
Crisis in Brazil: George Stoney Get Details and Purchasing Info
Don Lynn, Catherine Benamou
Documentary 29 minutes
Dubbed into English
An interview with George Stoney in which he speaks about his work and shows clips of his tapes made with the Kraho Indians in Brazil. Television show produced for MNN, featuring interviews with prominent filmmakers.
Purchase Price: $ 79.95
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