Breathing Matter(s): Dry Ground Burning (Mato seco em chamas)

silent green presents

As soon as the flare lights up the night sky, the gasoline is ready for sale, and the men ride motorcycles to the fearless Chitara, her sister Léa and the other women in the gang to pick it up; on the ground, the gasoline sample continues to burn. The lights of Brasília can be seen from the watchtower of the makeshift oil refinery, but Sol Nascente, one of the largest favelas on the continent, is a world unto itself, a real-life, highly cinematic setting.

The barren landscape and the shootouts are reminiscent of westerns and heist movies, although the armored police car on patrol here seems to have come straight out of a science fiction film. When the women dance on a bus or at a street party and chant slogans on their party's campaign truck, the film also has something of a musical, with a good dose of queerness.

But it is a different genre, the power of the documentary, which should not be underestimated: locations full of life, real protests against Bolsonaro, amateur actors playing themselves - beyond the fiction, it is a devastating sight. (James Lattimer)

Saturday, August 9
Dome Hall
Start: 8 pm
Tickets