The film portrays the mobilization of women in the indigenous movement of Alto Rio Negro (AM) and was featured in exhibitions such as Ecofalante and Ecocine
After visiting film festivals in various parts of the country, the documentary Rionegrines became available online starting this March 8th, Women's Day. The documentary can be accessed on the YouTube of ISA and the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of Rio Negro (Foirn).
The film tells the story of the mobilization of women within the indigenous movement of Alto Rio Negro (AM), rescuing memories and inspiring the future. Rionegrinas also marks the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Department of Indigenous Women of Rio Negro (DMIRN/Foirn).
Watch the movie:
Screened at festivals held in at least five states - Pará, Bahia, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais -, the documentary won the Ecocine 2024 - International Festival of Environmental Cinema and Human Rights, with the award for “Best Film on Indigenous Peoples”.
Created in 2002, the department turned 20 in 2022, but the celebrations took place in 2023 and have an extension now, with the story being able to reach new audiences.
DMIRN Coordinator, Cleocimara Reis Gomes, from the Piratapuya people, celebrates Rionegrinas’ participation in festivals and, now, its arrival on the internet. “It is important to take the film Rionegrines forward so that people can get to know the indigenous women of Rio Negro, a region where 23 peoples live, their potential, their experiences and their challenges”, he says.
Cleocimara Reis also talks about the emotion of watching the stories of the women who formed and form the DMIRN on screen. “It is exciting to see why the department was created, what it was like at the time, and how small the space they gained was. And we reflect that today we are managing to expand our spaces, physically and in the struggles for demands,” says the leader.
She also highlights the speech by Edineia Teles, from the Arapasso people, during the documentary, who talks about the importance of always remembering the leaders of the past, the women who are working today and, also, those who are yet to come. “We cannot leave anyone out,” reflects Cleocimara.
“The screening of the film brings a lot of emotion to all women, to all the people who watch it. Because it shows a little bit of the daily lives of the women of Rio Negro, what they like to do, what they think, what they work for, what they demand, the history of their struggle. And it brings a lot of emotion to us here in Rio Negro,” she adds.
The launch of Rionegrines took place in September 2023, during the III March of Indigenous Women, in Brasília. On the same occasion, the book was launched “The Mothers of DMIRN – Achievements and Challenges”, which features narratives from the department's leaders, and the DMIRN website.
In addition, the film was shown in São Gabriel da Cachoeira (AM), where Foirn and DMIRN are headquartered. The special session took place at Casa do Saber - Maloca da Foirn, in November 2023, at the annual closing of Cine Japu, and was followed by a conversation with traditional female leaders.
Produced in partnership by the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA), DMIRN and Foirn, the documentary Rionegrines It is directed and written by documentary filmmaker Fernanda Ligabue and ISA's socio-environmental policy coordinator, Juliana Radler, with the collaboration of Dadá Baniwa, Carla Dias, Dulce Morais and Ana Amélia Hamdan.
The film tells, through testimonies of indigenous women, the struggle for space, territory, income and sustainability, from the farms to the universities, from the house-territory to public office.
“They gave me a very small room. I barely had room for a table and a chair. What am I going to do with just this table and chair?”, recalls Cecília Albuquerque, from the Piratapuia people, the first coordinator of DMIRN.
Today, DMIRN has a coordinator and five regional coordinators who facilitate dialogue with the indigenous territory of the Rio Negro. Coordination is the responsibility of Cleocimara Reis and the coordinators are: Madalena Fontes Olímpio, Baniwa; Lucilene Veloso, Tukano; Anunciata Rezende, Tukano; Jucileide Pedrosa Brito, Tariana; and Victoria Campos, Tariana.
DMIRN's priority agendas include gender equality, women's rights, support for indigenous women's associations, income generation and sustainability, strengthening knowledge, care, indigenous health and traditional agricultural systems, tackling the impacts of the climate emergency and other pressures and threats to well-being.
Festivals with Rionegrinas participation:
Ecofalante Environmental Film Festival - São Paulo
Eco-Speaker Program Universities/PEU - São Paulo
Environment Week at the Museum of Tomorrow - Rio de Janeiro
Cine Kurumin/International Indigenous Film Festival - Bahia
Latin American Film Festival of Alter do Chão - Pará
Sarandira Environmental Film and Gastronomy Festival - Minas Gerais
Ecocine 2024/International Environmental Film and Human Rights Festival - São Paulo
Natureba Festival - Minas Gerais
Leaders who gave their testimonies in Rionegrinas
Almerinda Ramos, Tariano people
Anita Ramos Barreto, Hupdah people
Belmira Melgueiro, Baré people
Cecilia Barbosa Albuquerque, Piratapuia people
Claudia Ferraz, Wanano people
Claudineide Vasconcelos Gama, Arapaso people
Cleocimara Reis Gomes, Piratapuia people
Dadá Baniwa, Baniwa people
Ednéia Teles, Arapaso people
Elizângela da Silva Costa, Baré people
Florinda Orjuela, Tuyuka people
Francineia Bitencourt Fontes, Baniwa people
Janete Alves, Dessana people
Joaquina dos Santos, Desana people
Juliana Albuquerque, Baré people
Larissa Duarte Ye'padiho, Tukano people
Luciane Lima, Tariano people
Rosilda Cordeiro, Tukano people
Rosilene Pereira, Piratapuia people
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