Solmatalua

A ritual greeting to Creation and a photograph of a slave ship initiate this organic visualization of memories from the African diaspora. “The history of Brazil has been written by White hands. Both Blacks and Indigenous people who lived here haven't had their history written yet.” Rodrigo Ribeiro-Andrade, who previously explored similar territory with scenes from sugar plantations in The White Death of the Black Wizard, stays well clear of traditional historical reconstruction in this intuitively edited composition of archive footage, singing and other, impressionistic, elements. This is film as an act of protest, in and of itself.

It is as if Ribeiro-Andrade is drawing directly from the source, a dream world of memories, as he blends images of early settlements and children at play in favela alleyways. Performances, dances and provocative activist acts jostle with abstract light, the sound of nature, modern music and melancholy vocals. This is no “objective” historical record, but a poetic essay that connects us directly with a collective conscious.

Nominated for Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award