“Montando a Baiana” is among the finalist films for the Mariza Corrêa Prize for Visual Anthropology 2024

Directed by Aurélio Prates and Kelwin Marques, the short is the first editing exercise based on images taken in São Paulo and Recife. In the royal processions of the Nations of Maracatu, in the middle of the 20th century, the figure of the Baiana began to be occupied by transvestites, chickens, and other bodies for which femininity was not presupposed. The film seeks to present the relationship of the Bahianas Ricas do maracatu with their ancestries, which can occur both from the memory of the older Bahian women, as well as from contact with more-than-human females such as the Yabás, the Mestras de Jurema, Pombagiras, etc.

Kelwin is a master's student in Social Anthropology at the University of São Paulo (USP), supervised by professor Sylvia Caiuby Novaes, and a researcher at the Visual Anthropology Group (GRAVI). He has experience in the areas of photography, visual anthropology, anthropology of Afro-Brazilian populations and ethnomusicology.

The award event takes place between November 11th and 14th, 2024 as part of the John Monteiro Anthropology Journeys at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP).