1988 | Brazil | Documentary

Uaka

  • Portuguese English 77 mins
  • Director | Paula Gaitán
  • Writer | Paula Gaitán
  • Producer | Tito Almeijeiras, Paulo Callado, Tarcísio Vidigal, Nélvia Pinheiro

STATUS: Released

This film is currently not available.   

The first feature film directed by Paula Gaitán. This documentary is a deep immersion into the life and traditions of the Kamaiurá people. Her lens captures the Kuarup Ceremony, a funeral ritual popular among the peoples of the Upper Xingu. This portrait reveals the cultural strength of a people and an ambition for diversity that history tried to deny. In Xingu, the Kuarup—a great festive event in which men steal divine fire and scatter it across the earth—is celebrated every year in the Kamaiurá village. Nine tribes participate in the ritual to the sound of uruá flutes, with the presence of shamans Tacumá, Sapaim, and Prepori, among others.

funeral indigenous ceremony culture tradition tribes shamans documentary
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