05 Jan Boalândia

91 Minutes / Feature Documentary.

Directors: Patrik Thomas & Mathias R. Zausinger.

Production: Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion.

BOALÂNDIA documents the cultural resistance in the peripheries of Brazil. The protagonists fight for visibility with the means of art. They occupy cities and raise their voice against discrimination, police violence, racism and homophobia. For three years, the filmmakers worked and lived with the collectives and activists, accompanying them in the Amazon rainforest, at protests in the capital and in the subcultures of Brazilian metropolises. With their own films, music, spoken word and performances, the protagonists fight for attention – in the midst of an uncompromising and highly accelerated social reality.

In October 2022, Brazilian society has voted out the neo-fascist government of Jair Bolsonaro and the country is experiencing a moment of hope. Cultural resistance, the struggle for visibility and against marginalization continues. BOALÂNDIA is a snapshot and a portrait of this young generation, of their political dedication and vivid diversity. Filmmaking, as a narrative form as much as the process of archiving, has a special political significance in this resistance to structural violence. Audiovisual media enable the reclaiming of one‘s own voice, the archiving of one‘s own culture, and – through participation in one‘s own medialization – the writing of one‘s own history. BOALÂNDIA is part of this process, speaks together with those portrayed, is an eyewitness account of empowerment, and gives the voices an international stage.