Landless - True/False Film Fest

Landless

Facing an uncaring legal labyrinth, rebellious farmers in rural Brazil commandeer corporate-owned land.
Director: Camila Freitas
Runtime: 1:50
In-person: Director Camila Freitas
Fest Year: 2019
Far from mainstream media attention, the Landless Workers Movement in rural Brazil has, for four decades, defiantly organized farmers who seek to lead self-sustainable lives. The LWM occupies land that lies fallow because of corporate loopholes, allowing these farmers to feed their families and communities. Director Camila Freitas, whose family raises organic crops, spent years deeply embedded with formidable farmers who, stymied by an uncaring legal system and bankrupt owners, are taking matters into their own hands. The film deftly moves through tactical meetings, provides a present-tense look at protests, and lives and dreams with the occupiers—arguing for and celebrating a vision of back-to-the-earth activism that permeates the everyday. Freitas’ beautifully lensed scenes offer an insider’s point of view of the encampment as a place of refuge and equality. (AS)