Unerasable Memories
A Historic Look at the Videobrasil Collection. Conflictual episodes of history based on the personal perspectives of renowned artists. Curator: Agustín Pérez Rubio.
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Contestado, a guerra desconhecida, 1985
Video, 55’27”
Undertaking: Irani Produções Ltda.
This piece traces back the roots of the civil conflict that erupted between 1912 and 1916 at the border between the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina, with the construction of the São Paulo-Rio Grande railway. The work drove out farmers and locals across a fifteen-kilometer section on either side of the tracks, donated by the government to the railway company. The violent act of eviction gives rise to the Contestado War, as settlers rose against the government, multinational corporations, and oligarchies. A narrative comprised of archival material, maps, images of the area, and accounts from surviving witnesses, the documentary sets out to retrieve that which may have been forgotten, a part of the little-known struggle for land in Brazil.
Enio Staub is a film and television director and screenwriter. His work combines documentary and fiction to express a particular view of the drama of social relationships. He has directed the short film Cone Sul (1983) about a political-military alliance formed in the 1970s by Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay to coordinate repression against those who opposed their dictatorship regimes, and the TV series Movimento (Rede Manchete, 1987), about popular social organizations in Brazil.
© Still: Enio Staub
A Historic Look at the Videobrasil Collection. Conflictual episodes of history based on the personal perspectives of renowned artists. Curator: Agustín Pérez Rubio.