Pemp

This video traces the resistance and strategy of the Parakatêjê (Gavião) during their 25-year struggle to maintain autonomy in the face of huge development projects in the south of Pará From their first disastrous contact with whites in the 1950s, to their current negotiations with government power companies, the video shows how the Gaviao have struggled to reclaim their forest land from developers and agricultural settlers.

Against this background, Pemp shows the Parakatêjê's most precious project - the preservation of ceremonies and songs that are in danger of being lost, as a younger generation becomes more immersed in outside cultural influences such as television. Kokrenum, chief and keeper of the group's traditions, uses video to preserve rituals and transmit them to future generations.