Putting on the baiana

In the royal processions of the Maracatu Nations in the mid-20th century, the figure of the Baiana began to be occupied by transvestites, frangos, and other bodies for whom femininity was not a given. The film, which is both the development and result of my master's research, seeks to present the relationship between these Baianas Ricas do Maracatu and their ancestry. The relationship with ancestry can be traced both from the memories of older Baianas and from contact with more than human female figures such as the Yabás, the Mestras de Jurema, Pombagiras, etc.
There are three main voices in the film: that of Aurélio, the first rich Baiana outside Recife, a non-binary queer person and a very important interlocutor in the research, who is also the director of the film; that of Mestre Maurício Soares, a baiana from the Nação Estrela Brilhante do Recife who has been teaching maracatu through her dance throughout Brazil for years; and that of Macaxeira, one of the most important baianas in the history of Maracatu.
Mário Miranda - Maria Aparecida is a key name in this story. This great babalorixá from the northern part of Recife moved between these names, crossing gender boundaries and creating spaces of possibility for other bodies to exist. Maria Aparecida is, in a way, the archetype of the wealthy Bahian woman, and it is also from her memory that other Bahian women prepare themselves, dress luxuriously, salute their own ancestry, and cross the avenue in the company of their peers, living or dead.