Rap, a response to police oppression in Brazil in the film “A mãe”

Malaga (Spain), 21 Mar Rap music, poetry or art may become the only answer to the police violence in the suburbs of Sao Paulo, as shown in the Brazilian film “A mãe” (“La madre”), by Cristiano Burlan, which was presented this Monday in the official section of the Malaga Film Festival, in Spain. Without being autobiographical, this feature film is part of a Burlan trilogy inspired by his own experiences during the 90s, when in those suburbs “there was a lot of violence on the part of the Military Police”, which was “a kind of parallel power”, according to the director. It now shows the story of a mother, played by actress Marcelia Cartaxo, who wants to find and unearth the body of her son, played by Dunstin Farias. “The film may seem tragic, but the reality on the periphery of Brazilian cities is like this. The poor seem to still live under dictatorship, in a highly militarized system with a lot of oppression. Today, at least thanks to the Internet, you can know the number of people who die, but before that information did not arrive”, says Burlan. He adds that this feature film, the result of a seven-year project, “was made thanks to the policies of the previous Brazilian government, but with the current government this film would be impossible.” “There is going to be a lot of reaction to this film. The current government is destroying the environmental and social state, and it will take thirty years to build everything that is being destroyed by this government,” he lamented. He considers that the “crucial” thing about the story is “the power of reaction that these people have through music, art, rap or poetry, and how they manage to express their anger and hatred through that.” The film also features Débora Silva, creator in Brazil of the Mothers of Mayo movement, inspired by the group of the same name from Argentina and which emerged “because the Military Police killed more than 500 people in eleven days, and many of these bodies have not yet been found”. “There is script and fiction, but many things are touched upon that are the harsh reality that Brazil has. Fiction doesn't tell the whole truth, because if I made a documentary about all reality it would be unbearable to watch it,” says Burlan. He points out that he is not “a social activist”, but only makes films, but he transmits the violence he has experienced through his cinema and his films are “a social reaction to the oppression” he has suffered. “Taking a camera and filming is a political act, but I am not a political activist,” insists the director, who admits that he currently enjoys a “more comfortable situation” and no longer lives in those suburbs, but the camera serves to show his experiences there.