“Kuarup, the joy of the sun” says the title of this documentary brought to us by the Yawalapiti Indians, who live at the headwaters of Xingu sacred river, in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.

The story begins with film director and lecturer Patrick Bernard, familiar of minority peoples of the 5 continents. Working up from the idea that indigenous people must be self-conscious of the needs to safeguard their own cultures, he trains young people from these communities to the techniques of image and sound, and then simply hands them cameras so they can film their own traditions themselves.

Here under guidance of leader Aritana, the Yawalapiti have produced a film on the Kuarup rite, celebrating all year long the defunct of leader lineage, the major stars and spirits… Footage includes costumes, body painting, songs, dances, wrestling and trances.

This celebration is also a chance to discover one of these immemorial peoples of the Amazon witnessing the invasion of their territories by extensive agriculture and mine industries, and whose culture tends to fade before that of the “white”.

Scheduled on Sunday, May 1st, at 3.45 – France 5

Rebroadcasts:

– Monday, May 9 – 4.30pm

– Sunday, May 22 – 12.45am

– Friday, May 27 – 10.15am

For more info and a glimpse of the film