Pioneer indigenous filmmaker and Mbyá-Guarani leadership behind celebrated films such as Two Villages One Path (2008) and Nhanderú's Bicycles (2010) alongside other Guarani indigenous filmmakers, through Vídeo has Aldeias (Video in the Villages) workshops, and also Guarani Exile (2011) and Tava - The House of Stone (2012) directed alongside Ernesto de Carvalho, Patrícia Yxapy Ferreira and Vincent Carelli. Ariel is a member of the Mbyá-Guarani Cinema Collective (Brazil) and the Ara Pyau Cinema Collective (Argentina). Also directed the short film Our Spirits Keep Coming (2021) with Bruno Huyer and Patrícia Yxapy Ferreira.
Canuto's Transformation
Canuto's Transformation
Canuto's Transformation
In a Mbyá-Guarani community between Brazil and Argentina, everyone knows Canuto, a man who many years ago suffered the dreaded transformation into a Jaguar, and then died tragically. Now, a film delves into his story. Why did this happen to him? But more importantly—who in the village should play his role?
'We have crafted this film with the intention of bringing the viewer into a journey with us. The journey crosses frontiers: Brazil/Argentina, fiction/documentary, human/animal, person/character. Our main character, who lived in the 80’s, since his childhood showed the signs of the dreaded disease which is the transformation into a jaguar, a dangerous animal. The story concerns the risks of stepping outside humanity, outside the bonds that unite a community, and connects people. We find, in the act of filmmaking itself, key elements that help us understand what that transformation means. And with that, we approach the drama of telling that story, with the strong complicity of the entire Mbyá-Guarani community that lived through the events narrated, decades ago. Along the way, we find unexpected things: a child actor who is the closest incarnation of the character we could possibly hope for, a phantasmagoric wooden structure in the centre of the community that makes us think about the world outside, and the colonial story of violence that crosses the community, and events that reshape the lives of everyone involved.' - Ariel KUARAY ORTEGA and Ernesto DE CARVALHO
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Brazilian filmmaker, photographer and editor, with an Anthropology PhD from New York University, has collaborated with Mbyá-Guarani communities on films for over 15 years through the Vídeo nas Aldeias project. Co-director and photographer of the celebrated feature documentary Martírio (2016), winner of many international prizes. Ran workshops that produced several indigenous films such as I've Already Become an Image (2008). Directed alongside Ariel Ortega, Patricia Yxapy Ferreira and Vincent Carelli the films Guarani Exile (2011) and Tava - The House of Stone (2012). Also directed the acclaimed short film It's Never Nighttime in the Map (2016).
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