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From the Ikpeng Children to the World, Marangmotxíngmo Mïrang

Video in the Villages

2001 00:35:00 BrazilEnglishColorStereo4:3Video

Description

Four Ikpeng children reply to a video-letter from the children of Sierra Maestra in Cuba, introducing their village, families, toys, celebrations, and ways of life with grace and lightheartedness. Curious to know about children from other cultures, they ask to continue the correspondence.

Direction and camera by Karané, Kumaré, and Natuyu Yuwipo Txicão; edited by Mari Corrê.

Karané Txicão: A 19-year old Ikpeng Indian from Parque do Xingú in Mato Grosso state, who has already participated in three workshops in Xingú and three editing workshops. He realized his first video, Moyngo, the Dream of Maragareum, a mixture of fiction and documentary, together with Kumaré. He also participated, with Kumaré and Natuyu, in the making of the Wagré ritual video in 2001.

Kumaré Txicão, a 24-year old Ikpeng Indian from Parque do Xingú in Mato Grosso state, who helped his father in administrating the indigenous Pavuru post. After his initiation to video in 1997, Kumaré and his friend Karané registered the initiation and tattooing ceremony of the children of his village, the Moyngo. During the 1999 workshop, the Ikpeng people staged the origin myth of this celebration.

Natuyu Yuwipo Txicão: A 15-year old Ikpeng Indian from Parque do Xingú in Mato Grosso state, who is the first woman to integrate the Video in the Villages’ team. Initiated to the workshop in 1999, Natuyu, being the youngest student of the project, became a great revelation at the 2001 workshop. Co-author of the Ikpeng children’s video-letter and the re-filming of the Moyngo ritual, Natuyu is also realizing a documentary about a woman in her village, the elder Yawulú.

About Video in the Villages

Brazil-based Video in the Villages works to bring an understanding of the power of TV technology to indigenous peoples as an empowering tool in their fight to preserve their lands and ways of life. The Video in the Villages project is an ongoing series that grew out of the frustrating experiences the native Brazilian Waiãpi had with ethnographic film and video shoots in their villages. Initiated in 1985 by husband and wife Vincent Carelli and Virginia Valadão through the Centro de Trabalho Indigenista in São Paulo (the project has been independent since 2000), the project has had a profound effect on native image and self-image, inter-tribal relations, and relations with white institutions. Through the project, members of several native groups learn about video technology and participate in the production and editing of the videotapes to represent themselves and their cultures. Carelli continues to collaborate with indigenous media makers; Valadão died in 1998.