The film that foreshadowed the military coup in Brazil
By Urariano Mota
I had been looking for this film since 2010. In August 2012, I published an article about my search for the documentary “Brazil: The Troubled Land.” This film chronicles the struggle for land in Pernambuco; it was produced for the American television network ABC and features footage from 1961. But no one could provide any information about it—it almost seemed like a legend.
“The Troubled Land” had been seen in the United States, where it had garnered widespread attention, but it was never shown in Brazilian movie theaters or on Brazilian television. Brazil’s National Security Council had deemed it inappropriate by national standards.
But I didn’t give up. Almost a year later, I published an article whose introduction noted that the key difference between the online press and the mainstream media was freedom of thought. And that there was an added value to an article on the internet, greater than that of one published on paper: its permanence, with unlimited access across time and space for readers. This had been the case with the column “Wanted: A Documentary About Brazil”, published in August 2012. That column led me to receive a gift I never could have imagined.
I then received historic photos from the film, and the revelation (if you’ll pardon the word) of a 76-year-old photographer, in 2013, whose existence film scholars were unaware of. It was the Spaniard Fernando Martinez Lopez, who had sent me wonderful black-and-white photos from the documentary Brazil, the Troubled Land. Fernando Martinez, in response to the questions posed by this curious individual, introduced himself as follows:
“After searching through 4,000 negatives, I found the photos, some of which had been damaged by time. I’m Spanish, married to a Brazilian woman, and have Brazilian children and grandchildren. I worked on the film as a still photographer and also as a cinematographer….
Helen (Helen Rogers, the documentary’s director) was a beautiful and very intelligent American woman, married to a filmmaker; they had two children. To me, she was pro-United States, since this film was made precisely to prevent Brazil from becoming a new Cuba. (Bold added by the columnist) It was filmed in the Zona da Mata region of Pernambuco to capture the life of a peasant. At the Carpina market, she met Severino, a sugarcane cutter who worked for Constâncio Maranhão. Filming took approximately 25 days, with financial support from Sudene for transportation, etc.’
Then some rare figures appeared in the photos: Helen Rogers, Francisco Julião, Eva (the translator), and Bill Hartigan. It was a clear example of the treacherous politics of the United States, which had sent a well-meaning filmmaker to northeastern Brazil to document a “new Cuba” in Pernambuco.
Finally, I received a message on Facebook, posted by historian Felipe Genú, with these words:
“Mr. Urariano, I read an article you wrote in 2012, in which you were looking for the ABC documentary “The Troubled Land”. Have you found it yet?”
I reply:
“No, Felipe, not yet. I was more eager for this documentary when I was writing my novel ‘God’s Renegade Son’. But I’m still interested.”
And the indispensable researcher Felipe Genú:
“Mr. Urariano, I’m a historian, and I’m currently writing a dissertation on the MCP’s Teatro de Cultura Popular from the Arraes administration. After hearing about ‘The Troubled Land’, I became very interested, and while doing some research, I found a version of it posted online by the School of Cinematic Arts. They posted it on a website called Vimeo. All you have to do is sign up and search for ‘Brazil: The Troubled Land,’ and the documentary will come up.”
All I could say was:
“Great, Felipe. Thanks a lot, man.”
And now, friends, for the whole world to see, the video that the general public couldn’t watch—a truly fantastic legend. Watch Francisco Julião in 1961, Celso Furtado being interviewed at Sudene, and the landowner Constâncio Maranhão showing off by firing shots to demonstrate what his “law” was for the landless peasants.
Watch it here:
*Writer and journalist, author of novels that chronicle the Brazilian dictatorship, such as “Soledad in Recife” (Soledad No Recife) and “Never-Ending Youth,” translated into English by Peter Lownds.
Urariano Mota is a writer and journalist, author of novels that chronicle the Brazilian dictatorship, such as “Soledad in Recife” (Soledad No Recife) and “Never-Ending Youth,” translated into English by Peter Lownds.
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