Bresil,
The Landless peasants
This documentary was shot with great difficulty in the favelas of San Paolo and the Brazilian forests with the support of the church, and the activists of the landless peasantry movement in Latin America.
The struggle of the landless peasants has become a political and social symbol for many popular movements, not only in Brazil but also throughout Latin America.
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Shot in sites occupied by landless peasants and in Sao Paulo’s favelas, this documentary reveals a historical and social link between agrarian poverty and urban destitution.
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The film shows members of the movement gathering for an anniversary. They commemorate their dead, victims of the ruthless repression of the past, and asses their struggles. They are disappointed by Lula’s government and criticize it for failing to execute a fair agrarian reform. They draw a comparison with previous regimes. For twenty-five years, the landless peasants have occupied the rural estates left idle by wealthy landowners.
The peasants have suffered serious violence and repression. In twenty-five years, nearly 1 500 peasants and their leaders have been killed.
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While the rural exodus pushed hundreds of thousands of people into big cities, Sao Paulo, a mega city of approaching 18 million people, was losing almost half of its industrial jobs. One person out of two works in the informal sector, linked to the underground economy, without any social protection. Nearly one third of the habitable space of the city is occupied by favelas and slums, where the population has an essentially rural background.
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After following the peasants in their settlements, the camera wanders over the streetes of the favelas, into the homes of the destitute, sharing their intimacy and highlighting their hope for a better life.
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The return to the countryside may be a solution to urban povert and violence.
This is the problem this documentary seeks to address.
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