Video in the Villages A window to Brazil Video in the Villages is a NGO that operates in the communication area through

the implantation and development of an audio-visual medium together with indigenous communities. Its objective is to make video an instrument of expression of Indigenous identity, reflecting their vision about themselves and the world. The appropriation of this specific language has a double meaning: on one side, it rescues and reevaluates their cultural inheritance and, on the other side, it combats the stereotyped ideas and ignorance of society in relation to indigenous peoples. From this perspective surges a central theme of indigenous films: the rereading of History from their own point of view, the affirmation of their identity and of their differences. The operation of Video in the Villages divides itself into three areas: apprenticeship, production and distribution extending to diverse regions of Brazil, especially the Amazon, where the biggest indigenous population is concentrated. APPRENTICESHIP The apprenticeship of indigenous video makers constitutes the central axis of the entitys work and is seen as a long-term evolutionary process. The entitys priority is to offer quality training because the credibility and recognition of the indigenous production depends on it. The methodology of capability elapses from this reflection: the continuous training is strengthened through apprenticeship workshops. The workshops are set up in indigenous villages, areas in which they develop their research, choose their themes and characters, and realize their productions. The apprenticeship is broken up into four stages: screenplay writing, recording the images, critical analysis of the recorded material and editing. This whole process is accompanied by discussions about the content of the material, its technical quality, as well as reflections about its treatment. The interactive dynamics of the workshop make the community get involved in all the stages of this process. It does not restrict itself to an object of

register, but contributes in the choice of themes and characters, criticism of approach and influences substantially in the final result of the work. In the beginning of every introductory workshop set up in the village, each student draws up a project that he intends to realize and then its accompanied and supported by the Video in the Villages production core. PRODUCTION The production, finalization and distribution of videos are realized at the headquarters of Video in the villages. It provides the necessary infrastructure to produce videos for students who are more advanced in their stages of apprenticeship. This production core permits the viability of their projects, from a financial, technical and content point of view. Once the filming is concluded, the video maker comes to the headquarters to edit his material under the guidance of an editor. This essential stage of apprenticeship distinguishes itself as an editing workshop, providing a privileged moment of reflection about the content, as well as the treatment of its theme. They become professionals, adopting the language of motion pictures and articulating the image syntax. Summing it up, they make films about their reality, not only for their people, but also for an open public, unfamiliar with their particularities. The more experience they accumulate, the more self-confidence they acquire and this process of apprenticeship, in the long run, will culminate in graduation of a group of free-lance video makers and multipliers of this knowhow. Parallel to the students production, the coordination team at Video in the Villages continues producing videos about various themes: rituals, traditional narrative fiction, denunciations, experimental projects, such as educational videos in partnership with governmental organs: Aids prevention campaigns in indigenous areas and the series Indians in Brazil intended to introduce the indigenous theme in Brazilian schools. DISTRIBUTION AND DIFFUSION Since the beginning of its creation, Video in the Villages has promoted the interchange of videos among the communities with which it works. Along the years, the number of communities that have video cassette players has

increased considerably in the country, making us enlarge and diversify the distribution network. In addition to indigenous communities we have also received solicitations from indigenous associations and indigenous NGOs. Museums, cultural centers, schools and universities have also acquired collections for cultural and educational use. At the same time that the Latin American interchange has been expanding, we have produced a Spanish version of the series for distribution in indigenous communities in Latin America. We have also produced an integral English version of the series for international diffusion in festivals, museums and universities. The visibility caused by this distribution and the awards of various prizes opened space for diffusion of the series in public networks and commercial television in Brazil and throughout the world. Currently, Video in the Villages has a collection of 38 titles, with versions in three languages (Portuguese, Spanish and English). In Brazil, the Ministry of Education is in charge of distributing ten thousand copies of the series Indians in Brazil to the public school system, as well as an annual diffusion by satellite of TV Escola to a network of fifty thousand schools. What innovations have indigenous films brought us? The language, style and focus of the documentaries realized by Indigenous peoples follows a line developed by the initial series of the project: the Indian as a protagonist and the act of filming interacting with the event. But currently, the relationship is different and, therefore, the produced result is also different. Now its no longer the director or anthropologist that directs or orientates, its a conversation between one Indian and another, in a movement of interaction with his community. This relationship brings to the film a certain intimacy, which only they can produce. In films such as During the rainy season, fruit of a workshop from the Ashaninka do rio Amnia village, is a clear cut example of this new work methodology. Its not us that give the word to the Indian anymore, its they who generate the word from their community, their tradition and articulations of their narratives. The four documentaries produced this way in the last three years, already constitute a set of very original films, an indigenous auto-ethnography thats full of life and grace.

The current goal of the project is to form a first generation of indigenous documentary film makers. These will be the seeds of other vocations, until they can occupy their own space on Public Brazilian television. The History In the beginning, the insertion of video in indigenous communities was experimental, with a few groups committed to rescuing their political autonomy and their cultural patrimony. Supplied with a VHS camera, a monitor and a set of documentaries about the indigenous reality from different regions of the country, the team from Video in the Villages offered the Indians the opportunity to see themselves and also see the other Indians. This procedure profoundly affected the self-esteem of these peoples, generating true collective catharsis in which they reenacted abandoned rituals, reactivating their collective memories. If on one side video caught the attention of youth that was eager for modernity, on the other side, it fascinated the more traditional leaderships even more, who immediately realized the potential of this device, as a resonant speaker of its cultural resistance discussion. The project went on, year after year, repeating this experience in different communities, producing an archive of images to be shared with other groups and producing a series of documentaries about the process triggered off by video. These documentaries laid the foundation of the project, in proportion to showing the potential financiers of Video in the Villages the true dimension of its importance. After a few years, the project could count on a considerable archive of images, a series of videos that earned disclosure and international recognition, a network of video collections distributed in various communities, and in every one of them, youth supplied with cameras in the service of leaderships committed to maintaining their cultural memory. In addition to the exchange of video tapes, the project has also generated encounters of groups with cultural affinities with views to rediscover and recover lost cultural traits. An Indigenous Program In 1995/96, An Indigenous Program was produced by Video in the Villages together with TV Universidade de Mato Grosso. A unique experience, which pointed a way to be followed and the right to be claimed. The challenge was to

transform the realization of An indigenous Program into a school of journalism and production for Indians of different ethnic groups of that state. In addition to being performers, they were also screenplay writers, producers and masters of ceremonies of a television program, about themselves. The four programs were broadcast not only in Mato Grosso state, but also on the National Television Network TVE and Educational TV of Rio de Janeiro. If, on one side, this original experience showed the omission of information about the indigenous reality existent on Brazilian television, on the other side, it revealed that there was still a long road to be paved, in order for indigenous peoples to have their place in the media. It was from this evaluation that we designed a new work perspective for Video in the Villages: to really occupy places on the electronic media, it would be necessary to invest in a consistent and long term way in the apprenticeship of indigenous video makers. From 1997, the project began to invest in training indigenous people in a more systematic way, through village workshops and editing workshops at our headquarters. In 2000, Video in the Villages, which before was part of the Indigenous Work Center (CTI), became an independent non governmental organization. It was the natural expansion movement of the project, which currently collaborates with a much bigger number of indigenous NGOs and associations. It became necessary to create a new collective that represents a focus on the current work, an organization that specifically treats the question of communication and, above all, the training of indigenous documentary film makers. This change reflects the orientation of the new work.