TFBIC · The Filmmaker in Brazilian Indigenous Communities: the impacts of a new social and political position

This project combines approaches from anthropology and film studies to investigate how the systematic use of audiovisual equipment and techniques has contributed to the creation and consolidation of the position of ‘the filmmaker’ in Brazilian indigenous communities. Designed in collaboration with indigenous filmmakers, it will study three communities from different parts of Brazil, each with different histories and traditions of filmmaking - the Kuikuro, the Maxakali, and the Guajajara. In undertaking these studies, BFIC proposes an expanded and comparative analysis of the filmmaker's consolidation as a new social-political position that holds great prestige alongside traditional roles like the community leader, the health agent, the shaman, and the teacher. Around 90% of Brazilian indigenous communities now have their own filmmaker. They are responsible for transmitting technical audiovisual knowledge to younger generations; for cultural registration; and for disseminating information to mainstream media. However, it is also undeniable that indigenous production has gone beyond the limits of ‘ethnographic film’ and occupies a place in wider cinematographic culture. The filmmaker is therefore central to the exchange of symbolic production, and their work contributes to subverting and decolonising commonly held visual notions of what it is to be indigenous. The open access journal articles and collaborative short film produced by this project will explore the consolidation of the position of ‘filmmaker’ in detail for the first time. Alongside a range of dissemination activities targeted at academics and an interested general public, it will also hold audiovisual workshops in indigenous villages to directly strengthen ties between the Kuikuro, Maxakali and Guajajara communities. In doing so, BFIC will help to reinforce the struggle of indigenous peoples for the right to land, life and the preservation of the environment.