With the slogan “Talking about indigenous peoples at a public university is an act of resistance”, the journalist from the Permanent Commission for Entrance Exams at Unicamp (Comvest), Juliana Sangion, opened the screening of the documentary “Purãga Pesika – a welcome meeting ” on the night of Wednesday, June 12th, at Sesc-Campinas. She directed the film while taking the tests for Unicamp's first indigenous entrance exam. The trip to São Gabriel da Cachoeira, in Amazonas – the place with the largest number of people registered for the exam, held at the end of November 2018 – resulted in a 71-minute production that shows the daily lives of some students who participated in this historic milestone, the expectations regarding the test and university life. The launch of the video, produced by the Executive Secretariat for Communication (SEC) in partnership with Comvest, was attended by an external audience and the indigenous students themselves who participated in the production.
The name of the film, in the Nheengatu language, means “welcome”. In this context, José Alves de Freitas Neto, coordinator of Comvest, highlights “Unicamp's unprecedented experience in seeking greater representation among its students and the effort of indigenous people to prepare and, upon approval, come to university”. Juliana Sangion explains that the conclusion of the documentary came after a few months. “We didn’t know which students would pass the test, so it was necessary to follow what happened to each character and how the university life of some of them actually began.” She also highlights that the film's purpose was not only to record Unicamp's first indigenous entrance exam, but “to be a tool for discussing issues such as inclusion and diversity within the country's social and political scenario”.
Cássio Quitério, responsible for cinema and literature programming at Sesc-Campinas, explains the interest in hosting the premiere of the documentary, as the space has a regular program of local audiovisual productions and alternatives to the commercial circuit. “Our proposal is to allow academic content to reach other audiences and spark reflections”, he comments. “Purãga Pesika” is now available on the TV Unicamp channel on YouTube and will soon be shown on Canal Universitário Campinas and on partner TVs.
The challenge of producing and applying evidence
São Gabriel da Cachoeira is 850 kilometers from Manaus, in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. The humid and hot climate and transportation within communities were some of the challenges faced by the team during the expedition. Kleber Pirota, Logistics coordinator at Comvest, highlights that, in addition to “guiding” the team in audiovisual production, he was responsible for the security of the printed tests and their application, days after boarding at Viracopos Airport. “When I see these images, I relive a unique experience”, celebrates the professor. In the production of the film, Juliana was also accompanied by João Ricardo Boi, cameraman from TV Unicamp. “The work started at 5 am and ended at midnight, between travel, capturing images and testimonies”, he comments. Antonio Scarpinetti, photographer from Ascom, took supporting images for the documentary and also returned with a large photographic collection from the trip, which resulted in an exhibition. “Visiting communities, sailing along the Rio Negro and experiencing other cultures made for an unforgettable experience for all of us”, he concludes.
On screen and in classrooms
“I missed my family a lot at the beginning, but now I've adapted. I intend to return to the community to apply the knowledge acquired”
“I can already, after a semester, digest these discoveries and news that teachers bring us. The indigenous entrance exam is a dream come true”
Making of
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Juliana Sangion
José Alves de Freitas Neto
Kleber Pirota
João Ricardo Boi
Antonio Scarpinetti
Watch the trailer
Watch the documentary in full
Duration: 70min39sec
Genre: Documentary
Script and Direction: Juliana Sangion
Images: João Ricardo Boi
Assembly and editing: Kleber Casablanca
Supporting images: Antonio Scarpinetti and Ricardo Adorno
