Media Cafe
- Capoeira Angola da Bahia.
Mestre Caboquinho playing with Tonho Matera.
- Trailer for forthcoming film about Capoeira Angola in Brazil. The film is titled "Let the Circle be Unbroken." 2006 Chicolimon Productions. Edited by Aaron Ekroth
ABOUT THE FILM
Gerson, a 79 year-old capoeira master
is imprisoned as a result of the Brazilian government’s
official persecution of the art-form. He struggles to
reconcile his experience of ostracism with capoeira’s
current popularity.
visit http://www.circlebeunbroken.com/index.html
Ciro Lima, a younger capoeira master represents
a powerful, mobilizing force for effecting change.
Capoeira is his weapon for fighting the forced
gentrification which is taking place in the centre
of Salvador.
Set in Bahia, Brazil and driven by these two charismatic
but contrasting characters, the captivating documentary
strives to find the contemporary relevance of capoeira,
the “dance-fight game” that symbolized the struggle for
freedom.
The film addresses a number of critical issues including
the passing of tradition, the exploitation of culture and
Brazil's conflicted relationship with its own Afro-Brazilian
heritage.
In the words of Mestre Ciro Lima:
“There is no capoeira without masters. It’s not just
any man from Bahia that is a mestre de capoeira.
They are very special people. We have to show all
respect and reverence to these people that have
kept this art-form, this African sport, capoeira alive.
They struggled in an incredibly precarious situation
– black people were seen as slaves and being seen
as marginalized by Brazil, they were able to teach us
things that our biological parents could not".
Film Features Mestre Curio, one of Mestre Caboquinho's teachers.
