Only six elders of the Manoki population in the Brazilian Amazon still speak their indigenous language, an imminent risk of losing this important dimension of their ways of existence. Decided to reclaim their language with the elders, the younger ones decide to narrate their challenges and desires in images and words. Based on the analogy with the fragility of cotton that becomes a strong wire to support the weight in the hammock, Marta Tipuici speaks about the resistance of her people, her relationship with her grandmother and her hope to speak their indigenous language again.
Images and sounds
Cledson Kanunxi, Jackson Xinunxi and Edylza Kamuntsi
Translations and Subtitles
André Lopes Domitila Nanci
Production and Facilitation of Video Workshops
André Lopes
Finishing
Ricardo Dionisio
Support
Laboratory of Image and Sound in Anthropology – University of São Paulo
Realization
Manoki and Myky Ijã Mytyli Film Collective
Capture Support
HDV 1080i NTSC
All three directors are young leaders from the Cravari village, of the Manoki indigenous people, and this is their debut work.
Winner of the Eduardo Coutinho award for best national documentary (Film Festival of Alvorada – RS), selected for the 3rd Lumbee Film Festival (North Carolina/USA, 2020), selected for the 14th Mostra Cine+Vídeo Indígena (Chile, 2020), selected for the Asinabka Film and Media Arts Festival (Ottawa/Canada, 2020), selected for the Inffinitto Film Festival (USA, 2020), Official Selection of New Filmakers Los Angeles (USA, 2021) and honorable mention at the German International Ethnographic Film Festival 2022 (Göttingen, Germany, 2022).