Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Blind Faith has been chosen as an Official Selection in the
2008 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.
It will screen on Saturday, February 16th at 4:45 pm in the Wilma Theater. If you know anyone who will be in Missoula, Montana that day please let them know about the screening. Tickets can be purchased at the link above.

Photos

Here is a link to our collective photo album from Brazil. There are still more photos to be uploaded, but we are all on seperate vacations at the moment so I will update the album when I am back in New York.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danabartle/sets/72157603667988761/

The end of the road

We left Olinda Monday and headed back to Salvador. Strangely enough, we managed to stop for lunch at the exact same gas station that we had stopped at on the way north the first time. That time there were 9 of us and we all had shots of whiskey. Of course they remembered a combi full of gringos so they reminded us that we had been there before.

Our original plan was to film a local music group in Laranjareis, the small town we stopped at on teh way, but there were complications and we were not allowed to film them. So since we had nothing to film for the next few days we headed to the beach at Imbassaei. It was magnificent. There were only four other people on the beach whne we got there and it was a beautiful place. I saw monkeys for the first time, a whole family of them, jumping between the mango trees. We stayed at a great pousada and had fantastic pizza at one of the few restaurants in the town. The next day we stayed at the beach all day and headed back to Salvador in the afternoon. We had no plan for filming so we went back to the same vanue that we saw Cortejo Afro and watched another Samba Reggae group, Muzenza. It was great. Stephanie and I danced until we were drenched in sweat. We all stayed out to late and drank too much cachaca, which led to hilarious antics back at the apartment.

The next day we got up very early to film the largest cultural festival in Salvador,Lavagem do Bonfim.This festival takes place the second Thursday of January every year. This ritual has been occurring in Salvador since 1754. All meet at one church, Church of Conceição da Praia and march to the Church of Bonfim 10 kilometers away where the ritual washing is to occur. In front of the Church of Conceição da Praia there are Baianas dressed in all white with multicolored sacred beads, carrying long white vases on their heads filled with perfumed water and white flowers.

There are also horse-drawn carriages, musicians, as well as government officials, including the mayor of Salvador. The Carnaval group Filhos de Gandhy (Sons of Gandhi), who traditionally lead the procession, march right behind the Baianas all the way to the Church of Bonfim. Whereas the procession group and bystanders congregate outside the church, tens of thousands of others are scattered around among booths of food and drinks, and trio elétricos featuring such musical favorites as Olodum, Ara Ketu, Gera Samba. The Baianas starts pouring the perfumed water from the vases onto people's hands and heads, for blessing, and on the steps of the closed church; the flowers are dumped at the steps all well.

We filmed until about 11am and then I left for Morro de Sao Paolo, an island that is two hours away by boat from Salvador. There are no cars here and beautiful beaches. I have just been passing teh time swimming and hiking. It is outstanding. Tomorrow I am headed back to Salvador for two more days of filming then on to Rio for vacation.

It has been a fantastic trip. We have met and interciewed some amazing people. Our last day of shooting is January 23rd when we head back to the favela to meet Sidney and film teh kids samba group. We have been updating our photos regularly so mort of them are on my flickr page here


This is my last post. After this I am on vacation. Thanks for keeping up with our travels. One thing I know for sure I will be back in Brazil before the year is finished. I love it here.

Beijos,
Dana

Olinda or bust...

We left Salvador a few days ago and headed north in a combi with our final destination being Olinda a beach town outside of Recife. The first day was a short drive to Laranjareis where we hoped to catch their largest cultural festival. About an hour outside of thw town we stopped for gas and interestingly enough gas stations here also serve alcohol so we all had a shot. The ladies workign there could not stop laughing at a bus full of gringos rolling up and having shots. We are all in such good spirits already this just made everyone laugh for the rest of the drive./

when we got to the town we drove thru teh deserted streeets to discoverhat we missed the festival by three days. so we checked into a pousada, the only one the town had and headed out for some food. We only found one restaurant and it was closing so they offered us beer to go for dinner. Then the owner offered to make us all mistos, grilled ham and cheese, and we settled into a table chatting with the three other customers that were there about music, our trip and life. Then we crashed for the night and started out bright and early for Olinda.

The drive took longer tahn we excepted so by teh time we got here we skipped teh show we were going to see in Recife and went to dinner. We sat in a garden havig dinner and one of teh crew was almost knocked out by a mango that a bat was snatching from a tree above. Only in Brazil. Then we went back to our Pousada and grabbed the camera to film a Choro performace that was happening in the street just out front of our place. Fran and Ian joined the group and there were people everywhere up and down teh block. Then a few of us stayed out and went up the street to an outdoor club to see a group that played contemporary Brazil music. The DJ was spinning Reggae and funk when we got in there and it was the fist time I had really heard music that was not Brazilian since we got here. Then the band came on and they were great. They played a mix of traditional and contemporary music and even played the theme from James Bond. We stayed up way to late but it was worth it.

The next day we went to meet Beth de Oxum, she runs a cultual center out of her home and is one of teh most well known players of Coco music. We interviewed her and came back that night for an impromptu performace in her house. It was really great. After that we headed nirth to the beach to go swimming. Teh water is like bath water here. I swam straight out into the ocean further tahn I shuold have just trying to find cooler water. Then we got back in teh combi and haded to the oldest church in Brazil about 40km north for an outdoor performace of Maracatu in the square. It was a small group but it was, as Ty says, very rootsy. The whole neghborhood was there signing along and dancing. The we came back to crash still tired from partying too much our first day. Now we are heading back to beach for more swimming and then we are going back to Beth's house so the band can have a clinic with her to learn Coco music. Tonight there are numerous festivals in the street that we will be filming so it should be another great and late night...

Filhos do Ghandy

We have been so busy it is hard to keep up with posts so I thought I would upload a few videos. We do not have Final Cut here so these are from Jonny's camera. This one is Filhos do Ghandy a samba school that was founded in 1949, the year Gandi was assassinated. We went to the town of Madre do Deus and participated in a Candomble ceremony. This is their march to the sea. Later we went to their school in Pelorhino and interviewed one of the priests and watched their Tuesday evening social. They blessed us and our journey.

Live from Bahia

We left Rio Saturday and flew North to Salvador de Bahia. We had a few minor complications at the airport, they could not find our reservations at first, all 11 of us, and then we temporarily lost the boom pole. For the band it was a little worrisome, for me it was documentary gold. |Only in Brazil could I film in the airport and the airplane. In the states I would have been detained by Homeland security, but here I was able to walk around the plane filming and film our landing. Pretty sweet. Ian taught me how to play chess on the plane and gave me a greta idea for another documentary.

When we got to Bahia we took a minivan to pick up our volkswagen bus that we will be driving for the rest of the shoot. While Ty was getting the car Francisco and I had fun with some neighborhood kids who were watching a soccer game. Great footage. Then we were off to our hotel on the beach. By the time we got here we had just enough time to shower and get dressed for the wedding the band was playing in later that night. We had planned on filming the bands performance at eh wedding but the sound system was terrible and the wedding was really over the top. It was actually decorated with pink and green neon and confetti kept falling from the ceiling over the dance floor. So we did what any good film crew would do we hit the buffet and the bar and headed home early.

We left at 7:30 this morning to head to Madre de Deus, Mother of God, a small island an hour north of us, where we were going to film a traditional ceremony that combines elements of Candomble, a religion that comes from Africa, and Catholicism. We followed three vans to the island picking up people along the way. The event was refered to as a church washing ceremony, and yet they never did wash the church. When we got to the church the men in the vans, the Filhos de Gandhy, came out all dresed in elaborate blue and white costumes with beads and feather head dresses. There were also drummers and dancers and most importantly, the Baianihas, women of all ages dressed all in white, with huge hoop skirts, carrying white flowers to the sea to give as an offering to the orishas, or gods. As the ceremony was about to begin the priest, dressed all in blue and white and carrying an atomizer of scented perfume took me by the hand and led me to the front of the procession. There were literally hundreds of people lined up waiting to participate as he used a water bottle and shook water in three directions and then didi the same thing again with perfume before touching the ground and giving the sign of the cross. He then went to each Baianiha and blessed them with an atomizer of the perfume in the sign of the cross again. Then he came to me and didi the same thing and thanked me for being a part of the event. Then we took off everyone dancing the entire way. The crowd on the sides of the procession was enormous and the longer we walked the more people joined us. Behind the Baiainihas was the priest followed in order by the Filhos de Gandhy, the bandiera, or drummers and finally a huge truck with a booming soundsystem. We walked for two miles and everyone involved let me weave in and out of their respective groups. The priest kept taking me by the hand and leading me to the things he wanted me to film. It was truly spectacular. The whole thing ended at the water where the Baianinhas were supposed to throw the flowers into the water as an offering. The beach was packed with people in bikinis dancing, swimming and drinking, with massive soundsystems playing booming music as the procession arrived. The Baiainhas laid their flowers down in front of the church and went inside. We decided to capture the flower tossing from the water so we waited there framing the shot. After about 30 minutes we went to check and make sure that they were still coming to finish the ceremony. Ty found out that they were not going to throw the flowers in the water because it was too hot and they wanted to go home. Oh well, it was still great footage and a great day. Being in the middle of all of that being blessed by a Candomble priest just reminded me that |I have the best job in the world.

After getting back to the church where we left the van we headed to Pelourinho, the colonial capital of Bahia to catch the Filhos de Gandy rehearsal at their hall in the towns center. It was a blue and white hall that reminded me of a large social club. The band played on the stage and men dance in a circle in front. I filmed a few songs and we made arrangements to come back Wednesday to interview the public relations coordinator about the group.

Afterwards, we met up with the rest of the crew and watched a live samba performance in the street. Again, fantastic. The entire street was full of people singing along and dancing. We drank huge beers out of tiny cups and danced in the streets. I filmed some of the performance but after a long day of shooting my battery died. No worries though, after all it is only day 4...

Another day in Rio

Today we traveled to Madureira to visit Imperio Serrano Samba school. It is one of the oldest and most traditional samba schools. The school is made up almost entirely of community members and they are deeply rooted in African traditions. There are so many of us now that we had to split up so the camera crew and three others drove with Lali, and as luck would have it the car overheated midway through the tunnel out of Rio de Janeiro. Fortunately, chris had the camera out and caught it on film. We were pushed out of the tunnel by a massive transit truck--surreal.

At Imperio Serrano we met and interviewed Tia Maria, at 87, she is the last of the old generation of Jongo players. We had hoped to interview her at her house or her school where she teaches local children Jongo, but she insisted on meeting us at the samba school, which, incidentally, her brother founded. Tia Maria is a direct descendent of African slaves and she has been instrumental in reviving Jongo culture with the younger generation. Ty and Lali interviewed her and I would love to tell you what she said but I don't speak Portuguese so you will have to wait for the film. Afterward, she was joined by three younger women and they performed several songs for us with Francisco on guitar. It was truly magical.

As we finished with Tia Maria the Velha Guarda, or old guard, of Imperio Serrano arrived dressed all in teh colors of teh samba house--matching white pants and shirts, with straw hats wrapped with green ribbon. The Velha Guarda are older members of the samba house who are no longer a part of the bandiera, or percussion group. They all spoke about their experiences with samba and their connection to their community. They all spoke of their families participation in various forms of Brazilian music. Then they played a few songs with us and asked the band to join them in a fianl song. They were all so gracious waiting to give me big kisses on the cheek before they left and thanking us for coming to meet them.

We headed home to go swimming but as luck would have it half of us broke down again. This time, as luck would have it, we were on teh highway so we got off and left the car at a grocery store about 40 minutes from our house. We finally made it back to Ipanema and ate dinner before heading home for Caiprinhas and music.

Tomorrow we fly out to Salvador de Bahia as Sambadende has a gig at Maisa & Geoff's wedding. Maisa is from Salvador and Geoff is from Denver, Colorado. The band knows them from their gigs in COlorado and hired them to come out to platy the wedding. That is really how this whole thing started.

One thing I forgot to mention. Lost everthing I own the first day we were here. Well not exactly, but it sure felt that way. So I lost everyones phone number and I am posting pictures from Johnny's camera, not to mention wiring money since of course my atm card was lost as well. But still its already an amazing trip. Traveling always comes with hazards, but whatever I have lost I have gained expoentially more in the few short days I have been here.

Rio de Janiero

We arrived January second and met Johnny, Ty and Francisco at the airport, the others were delayed a day. Our taxi driver listened to Motorhead the entire drive and told us that he had been their tourguide when they were here last summer. Apparently we were his next band. He took us to our house at the base of Vidigal favela. Our host insisted that we have beers and chat before we headed to the Beach. We met up with Lali and Megan on Ipanema beach and spent the day swimming. I know it all sounds wonderful but this was not even the highlight of our day.

Around 6 we headed out on an hour drive to check out Academicos de Salguera samba school's carnival rehearsal in a massive football stadium, Campo de Futebol, in Andaria. We got there early just as the street was setting up for the rehearsal. People were pulling out tables and chairs and vendors were setting up stands just to hear the rehearsal. We met an older samba member and he serenaded us in the street with an improvisation about the internet. We were not supposed to film in the stadium until we got permission but while he gave the band a tour of the memorabilla room we snuck out and shot the sun setting over the mountains with the young girls practicing their group dance. Then we went on a tour of the indoor facility full of piles of red and white drums and red costumes piled high. We interviewed many people including the oldest sambista, female samba member, of the group. Then it was time for the show to begin.
The music begins with everyone in unison and then one drummer "calls" the other players into the rhythm and they respond by replecating his beat. I was supposed to get closeups of the players but the gatesthat surrounded me did not let me get close enough so I jumped right in. I was literally a foot away a drum at any one moment and teh energy from all of that collective playing was electrifying. Chris shot from above getting the wide shot. After the drumming it is time to practice the group dances in a march formation. 250 people form four lines and dance around the soccer stadium. I wanted to capture the feel of the show so I got as tight I could and stayed between the rows as hundreds of people danced past me. The crowd watching the reherasal was almost as big as the group itself. It was truly my best filming experience ever.

Today we went to Copocabana to meet up with Sidney, a resident of favela Cantagalo and an instructor at Capoeira Corpo Movimento. Trying to convince a taxi to take us to a fevala steep in the hills was no easy feet. Three people got in one taxi and Ty, Sydney and I tried for fifteen minutes to catch anouther but were repeated=ly turned down. Finally we convinced one to take us to the base of the hill and we hired kids from the fevala to take us the rest of the way on motorcycles. Fantastic. When we arrived at the school Sidney said he wanted to give me and Ty a tour of the favela but he told me I had to turn the camera off as soon as he said. I got about five minutes of allowed footage and kept the camera running at knee length for a bit before finally being warned that I needed to face it to the ground. He took us to his house got us some water and took us to the roof to see the view of the city high above the hills. We interviewed him there with Copacabana on his right and the Favela on his left. Amazing. The we talked to his wife who makes handbags and trinkets from old newspaper that Sidney paints.

We headed back to the Capoiera school and filmed a group of ten kids ranging from 4-15 singing, playing music and doing capoeira. They told us how much fun it was and how they loved it because it was a part of their culture. We got some beautiful images as the sun streamed in from one side of the entirely glass room. Then we interviewed Sidney again out back of the school amidst the backdrop of Corcovado. Then Sidney took us all on a tour of the favela and we had lunch at a local restaurant there. he seemed to know everyone stopping every five feet to say hello to someone, knockon a door or help someone with there groceries. Then he escorted us out and as we got to the base he told us that he could no longer be responsible for our safety. He kissed us goodbye and told us to come back and visit anytime. Despite the stereotypes and the underlying violence in the favelas, its hard to deny that that was one of the most warm communities I have ever been invited into.

When we got back we headed to Lebron to go body surfing and watch the sunset. Then we came back to the house to be reuinted with teh rest of the band. After hugs an kisses I came in here to blog and they are out there practicing samba.

The point of the story is you have to come to Brazil, but you better travel with a samba band because nothing can top this...and there are still three weeks to go!