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Brazil was one of the last American countries to abolish slavery in 1888. One hundred and thirty-six years later, many citizens are still exploited, discriminated and robbed of their land. Together with three actresses and in her unique visual language, associate artist Christiane Jatahy explores the effect of Brazil’s violent past and reality today.

 

One of the ways she does this is by using as a basis the internationally acclaimed 2018 novel Torto Arado (translated in English as Crooked Plow) by Itamar Vieira Junior about two sisters, Bibiana and Belonísia, who are driven apart as a result of inequality. Jatahy was also inspired by Eduardo Coutinho’s iconic documentary film Twenty Years Later (1984) about the murder of Brazilian peasant leader João Pedro Teixeira.


Working together with the Afro-Brazilian and indigenous communities of Remanso and Iúna - Chapada Dimantina in the mountainous Bahia hinterland, Jatahy shows the despair and resolve of the original inhabitants. Blending theatre and film, past and present, fiction and reality, she tells the story of two sisters for whom freedom is but a charade in the aftermath of their ancestors’ enslavement. 


‘The title refers to the silence that is imposed on Afro-descended and indigenous people, robbed of their land and of a space in which to tell their stories. Depois do silêncio is the possibility of a change, the seeds of revolution.’

- Christiane Jatahy (in: Bruzz)

  • Christiane Jatahy

    © Leo Aversa

  • Depois do silêncio

    © Juliana Franc

  • Depois do silêncio

    © Christophe Rayn

  • Depois do silêncio

    © Nurith Wagner

credits

based on the book of 'Torto Arado', Itamar Vieira Júnior (published by LeYa) creation and text Christiane Jatahy artistic collaboration Thomas Walgrave light design Thomas Walgrave photography Pedro Faerstein camera Pedro Faerstein original music Vitor Araújo, Aduni Guedes sound design Pedro Vituri mixing Pedro Vituri sound (movie) João Zula editing (movie) Mari Becker, Paulo Camacho costumes Preta Marques set design Thomas Walgrave collaboration text Gal Pareira, Juliana França, Lian Gaia, Tatiana Salem Levy interlocution Ana Maria Gonçalves video system Julio Parente body preparation Dani Lima direction assistant Caju Bezerra camera assistence Suelen Menezes stage management Diogo Magalhães sound technician Leandro Barreto, Diogo Magalhães video technology Alan de Souza Light operation Leandro Barreto production assistance Rio de Janeiro Divino Garcia production management Rio de Janeiro Claudia Marques administration Claudia Petagna production coordination and tour manager Henrique Mariano with Gal Pereira, Juliana França, Caju Bezerra, Aduni Guedes film made in collaboration with Lian Gaia, residents of the communities of Remanso and Iúna -Chapada Dimantina/Bahia/Brazil containing references to, and images of Cabra marcado para morrer” by Eduardo Coutinho, Mapa Filmes production production Cia Vertice, Axis productions coproduction Schauspielhaus Zürich, Le Centquatre Paris, Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, Wiener Festwochen, Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, Arts Emerson, Riksteatern, Théâtre Dijon-Bourgogne, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Théâtre Populaire Romand, deSingel, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Temporada Alta production coordinator Henrique Mariano tour supported by CENTQUATRE on the road tour manager Claudia Marques casting Juliana França, Caju Bezerra, Gal Pereira, Aduni Guedes, Lian Gaia Christiane Jatahy is associate artist of Holland Festival, CENTQUATRE-PARIS, Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, Schauspielhaus Zürich, Arts Emerson, Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa Cia Vertice is supported by Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Île-de-France