Backlands, America

Creating a national park in the Brazilian state of Piauí dedicated to the preservation of what are apparently the first traces of human activity in the Americas has been archeologist Niède Guidon’s life work. SERTÃO, AMÉRICA is a contemporary take on a mythical territory of Brazilian cinema, once the cinematic realm of Glauber Rocha and other giants. The film pays a brief visit to the region, which is rendered in appropriately fragile analogue textures and deteriorated colours, as small fragments of the biographies of those who used to live there hover over the animal noises of the delicately crafted soundscape.