Documentary

From 2014 to 2016, Shine a Light worked with children and adults from the Morro do Fortunato to document the history of the community in film and a comic book. This documentary tells the story of the quilombo (run-away slave colony) and relates how it became the prosperous community it is today.

The Fortunate Tree

The quilombo has always been a kind of protection: a place where black Brazilian could flee to escape slavery, a community to defend themselves against the outside world, and today, a way to preserve land rights in a world of real estate speculation and agro-business. The children at Morro do Fortunato expressed this sense of protection through the oldest tree in their community, which defends them from an attack of "Big Bad Wolves."

The movie concludes with an interview with Seu Nica, who tells the story of the tree and the role it has played in local agriculture.

Healthy Jam

For years, the women of the Morro do Fortunato Quilombo has made and sold jellies and jams... but they have always worried about how much sugar they put into their kids' mouths. A group of them have now invented a new jam that uses green banana mash instead of sugar. They use the bananas and fruits grown on the quilombo, make a healthy snack... and it is delicious!

Playing taco (Brazilian cricket)

Would you imagine that a game like cricket was popular in Brazilian Quilombos? You men from the community show that it is, and explain why.

The haunted pig sty

As a kind of rehearsal for "The Fortunate Tree," several of the children at the Morro do Fortunato made a short horror movie about going into the pig sty and hearing scary sounds.

As a part of the process of learning how to use the video camera, the children of the Morro do Fortunato Quilombo made a short documentary about one of their favorite places: the playground their parents built a dozen years ago.

Roshomon in the jungle

Kids love to tell tall tales... and in front of the camera, the tales only get taller. One day, Antony and Cauã got into an argument about whether one of them had ever drowned in a stream near their village. The two versions of the story are very different...

An experimental film as the kids learned to use the camera and microphone.