Holland Festival – Filmselection by Christiane Jatahy – Christiane Jatahy, Eye Film Instituut Nederland

Eye on Art

As part of the Eye on Art program series, Christiane Jatahy puts together her own film evening, with Cabra marcado para morrer: Vinte anos depois (also known by its English title Twenty Years Later ) by Eduardo Coutinho. This film, which inspired Jatahy's performance Depois do silêncio , is about João Pedro Teixeira, who led the farmers' protest in the Brazilian state of Paraíba. He was murdered in 1962 on the orders of the landowners against whom the protest was directed. The short film Soberane (Sovereign) by Brazilian director Wara will be shown beforehand.

Cabra marcado para morrer

After capturing a demonstration against the murder of the activist farmer on camera, Coutinho decided to film Teixeira's life story. In 1964, for the sake of authenticity, the director had Teixeira's wife and a number of farmers play themselves. But that year there was a coup in Brazil and after 35 days of filming, the military dictatorship put a stop to the project. Members of the cast and crew were arrested and the equipment was seized. The film material shot up to that point had already been sent to Rio de Janeiro and thus escaped the hands of those in power.

In 1979, Coutinho returned to the region where a large part of the film was shot. He considered finishing his thirteen-year-old film, but ultimately took a different tack. The original film became the starting point for a documentary, in which Coutinho lets everyone involved tell the story of that first film and its interruption. He also filmed the reactions of the widow Teixeira and the local population.

Thus Cabra marcado para morrer became, as the American media magazine Variety described it, 'a historical document of the revolution from the point of view of the losers'. A classic that ended up in fourth place in the Brazilian Film Critics Association's Top 100 Brazilian films in 2015.

Soberane (Sovereign) 2022, director: Wara

Hakan does not want to return to Brazil, but he also does not know how to tell Lissy that a dream life outside Cuba is not possible. Hakan struggles with indecision when Lissy discovers she has been denied a chance to get off the island. However, Hakan cannot stay (add in Cuba for clarity?) and must accept the new person he has become in order to return home.

Soberane received the Locarno Shorts Weeks Audience Award in 2022.

Keep an eye on the website and social media for the full program of this evening.