São Paulo – Two films about Brazil were selected by the Project Viewfinder, of the Arab television channel Al Jazeera, and are to be broadcasted on Witness, a documentary show on the network’s English channel, as of the end of February. The film “Ticket to Paradise”, by Rogério Soares, from São Paulo, is about Haitian immigration in the country, and “Occupying Brazil”, by Chilean Daniel A. Rubio, approaches the homeless who take over empty buildings in São Paulo. Rubio was born in Chile, but has been living in the city of São Paulo for 15 years.
The films were chosen among 537 proposals sent to Project Viewfinder, which selects and sponsors the production of films about Latin America and then shows them on television. Al Jazeera first selected 11 documentaries, whose directors participated in a workshop with DocMontevideo, an Uruguayan organization in the segment, located in Montevideo. Then they chose eight projects: two from Brazil, two from Argentina, one from Cuba, one from Honduras, one from the Dominican Republic and Haiti and one from Uruguay. The film made in the Dominican Republic and Haiti is by a Brazilian director, Yara Costa, who lives in Haiti.
The films will be showed on Al Jazeera in English as of February 24 and shall be eight weeks in the broadcast programming. The film by Brazilian director Soares is to be shown on the first day. The film was made in Brasileia, city in the northern Brazilian state of Acre, where many Haitian immigrants arrive. They travel from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, from there on to Panama, Ecuador, Peru to finally arrive in the Brazilian state. In Brasileia they stay in an accommodation structure until they obtain their temporary or work visas.
This is the setting for Soares’ film, which tells the story of Damião, employee at the Acre Human Rights Office. According to the director, Damião is responsible, at the accommodation structure where the Haitians stay, for ensuring they pass the visa and security procedures. To show the reality of immigration, Soares tells the story of Damião as he meets Ricardo, a Haitian that spends three months in the place, helping Damião find work for his fellow countrymen. “The film ends when Ricardo finds a job and leaves for the South of Brazil,” says Soares.
The other documentary about Brazil, “Occupying Brazil”, shows the dramatic story of Isabela, a 23-year old young woman with three children she cannot keep because she is homeless. While she fights to find a home, her children have to stay with relatives. Isabela has been a part of the homeless movement Frente de Luta por Moradia (FLM) since she was 12 years old and is one of the occupiers of the empty buildings in the city of São Paulo. Isabela’s mother, says Rubio, is also part of the occupation movement and has managed to obtain a home.
As well as Isabela, the film by the Chilean director also focuses on the story of two people who work for the movement, André and Jaíra. The documentary captures the moment of an occupation, done in one night, and the daily lives of the homeless families. Most of the invaders, says Rubio, are women with children, who make between one and three minimum wages (roughly US$ 302.00 to US$ 906.00 by current exchange rates), and aren’t able to pay rent or installments with their income. So they take over empty buildings to pressure the government for housing solutions. The film shall be showed on Al Jazeera in English on April 14.
Rubio has worked for 20 years in movies, making independent documentaries as well as working for international television networks. In Brazil he worked for the television channel of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). Soares read Cinema Studies in England and currently lives in Canada, where he is working with film producer company Filmblanc. He has lived in many countries and worked as broadcast programming director at TV Escola, of the Ministry of Education, and contents director at television network Televisión America Latina (TAL). TAL is a partner of Al Jazeera in the project, and shall also show the documentaries later on.
The production of the films is followed by Al Jazeera professionals. Rubio says he really enjoyed the input given by the Arab television team. “I have always worked with international projects, but I live in Brazil, and this outside perspective is great,” he states, noting that they work bearing in mind that the documentary shall be seen in different countries. All documentaries start from personal stories to show a greater reality, whether local, regional, national or even international. “These are personal stories that normally don’t have much access to mass media,” says Soares, explaining that in the end it works as inspiration for other people.
Al Jazeera promotes Project Viewfinder every year. According to information in the network’s website, application for the project’s next edition shall be opening soon. More information may be found at http://ajeviewfinder.com/
*Translated by Silvia Lindsey
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