In this open-ended narrative where departure, quest, and return converge, the two filmmakers synthetically cross-reference their emotional and existential experiences in a journey through the Brazilian Northeast, permeating ambiences in states of Ceará, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Alagoas and Bahia. The authors’ research switches back and forth between the exploration of anthropology and identity, and the idea of a backcountry seems to take on another dimension. While this is a distant, forgotten quality, it is also where the universal dilemmas of man – such as the notion of belonging – seem most frayed out and naked, and the contradictions between the notions of local and global, tradition and mass culture become exposed. Resorting to continuous, non-linear motion, the piece presents the figure of the traveler as the perennial idea of survival in the relentless compression of time caused by travel. The exploratory terrestrial locomotion captures sensitive elements that emerge in the film through the direction of photography and filming techniques. The colors, textures and sounds of footage captured at different points in time become crucial elements for the comprehension of the film’s aesthetical richness. A few years later, this long trailblazing research would be expanded upon in the duo’s feature film Viajo porque preciso, Volto porque te amo (2009). Like irrefutable proof, these pieces contribute to break down the boundaries between cinema and the visual arts, a process that marks the trajectories of the past two generations of Brazilian authors.
