Portraits of a sunken town surrounded by drought –
a Brazilian utopia that was erased three times but refuses to die.
The Sea of pilgrim Antonio tells the story of the Brazilian pilgrim Antonio, founder of the free town of Canudos. In the middle of the Sertão – an isolated region, feared for its longlasting droughts – thousands of uprooted natives, runaway slaves and poor white peasants gathered in a Utopian community based on solidarity. But the army was sent to destroy the town, and most of its inhabitants were killed. What they left behind was a prophecy of the pilgrim, that became known in all throughout Brazil: the dry wilderness in which he had lived would turn into a sea. Generations later, suddenly these words acquired an unexpected meaning.
The Sea of pilgrim Antonio is a journey in search of the people and the dreams of Canudos. Through drought and water, through hope and longing. What it finds is a deep trust in life, that moves with the music and the slow rhythm of life in the relentless Sertão.
Travelling Cinema
For seven years Mendel Hardeman worked on his latest film. Back in the Sertão for the last shooting period, he brought a travelling cinema to show scenes of the film to the people who were involved in it. In isolated villages without water and electricity, people gathered around a white wall to watch a movie – often for the first time in their lives.
Those very touching evenings gave rise to the idea of distributing the film in that same way, also in Europe, wherever people want to see it. Everyone who wishes can host a screening. You need only two things: a group of people and a white wall.
After its European tour, the Travelling Cinema will bring the film back to Brazil, for a long series of screenings throughout the dry interior.
Do you like the idea of hosting a screening? Read more….
