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Meeting Ancestors

Vincent Carelli

1993 00:22:00 BrazilEnglishColorStereo4:3Video
Tags:
Documentary, Expedition/Travel, Indigenous, Post-colonialism

Description

Chief Waiwai recounts for his village the story of a trip he and a small entourage made to meet the Zo’é, a recently contacted group whom the Waiãpi “know” through video. Both groups speak Tupi dialects and share many cultural traditions, but the Zo’é are currently experiencing the phenomena of contact that the Waiãpi underwent 20 years ago. Waiãpi cameraman Kasiripinã illustrates the Waiwai’s account of the trip with video. The Zo’é afford their visitors the chance to re-encounter the way of life and wisdom of their ancestors. The Waiãpi bring information on the dangers of the white world that the Zo’é are eager to understand.

Directed by Vincent Carelli.

In Waiãpi with English subtitles. Spanish subtitled version available.

About Vincent Carelli

Vincent Carelli is a video producer with the Centro de Trabalho Indigenista in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This group 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, the project has had a profound effect on native image and self image, inter-tribal relations, and relations with white institutions. Members of several native groups learn about video technology and participate in the production and editing of the videotapes.