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Pemp

Vincent Carelli

1988 00:27:00 BrazilEnglishColorMono4:3Video

Description

Pemp traces the 25-year struggle of the Parakatêjê (Gavião) to maintain autonomy in the face of huge development projects in the south of Pará. From the initial recovery of their lands in 1957 through dealings with FUNAI in the 1970s and the appropriation of Brazil nut monopolies to their current negotiations with the government, Pemp shows the Parakatêjê’s most precious project; the preservation of their ceremonies and songs. The Kokrenum, chief and keeper of the group’s traditions, uses video to transmit them to future generations.

Directed and photographed by Vincent Carelli.

In Portuguese with English subtitles

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.