We are helping raise urgently needed funds to produce a documentary film about the politics of surveillance and control of black women in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The documentary, whose shooting has already started, examines the power that the state has had over "rowdy women" (often black/brown, always poor) for centuries. It will also look into examples of resistance against daily forces of oppression, the perception and treatment those women receive, and the spaces they occupy in different settings in society - from the labour market to the cultural and academic environment. Seeking to understand who those "rowdy women" are and their history, the film will delve into the historical archives of the Afro capital of Brazil - the city of Salvador in Bahia. It will try to exhibit real-life footage of legendary women, some still alive at an advanced age. The film will also visit incarcerated women who are assisted by civil society groups encouraging their critical thinking and their ability to express themselves through art (especially literature, although other art forms are also explored). Brazil has a sentence-reduction law that stimulates literacy by allowing for a prisoner’s sentence to be reduced by four days for every book read. The people involved with the project Unruly Bodies, Free Minds, led by Denise Carrascosa, a Professor at Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), seek to establish the material legal conditions for sentence reduction. This project, which counts renowned writers Angela Davis and Conceicao Evaristo as honorary members, aims at the self-recognition and the reconstruction of the identities of these women, in the deeply racist and sexist Brazilian reality. The documentary film is being directed and produced by Patricia Freitas, whose most recent short film Firminas em Fuga (about one of the workshops by Unruly Bodies, Free Minds), was exhibited at the Paraty Literary Festival (FLIP) last year and can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W6iyBhWBfA. This film has no sponsorship and is being funded entirely by individual donations. Your donation will contribute to paying the filming crew's travel expenses, setting material, equipment, etc. Thank you very much! ABOUT DIRECTOR PATRICIA FREIRE Patricia Freitas, born in 1978, is a Brazilian multi-talented film director with a prolific portfolio of short and medium length films under her belt. Patricia has also been a member of the group Corpo Indoceis, Mentes Livres since 2013. The objectives of this group, led by Denise Carrascosa, a Professor at Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), are twofold. On the one hand, they seek to inspire detained women to improve their self-awareness and to reconstruct their own identities, in the deeply racist and sexist Brazilian reality. And on the other hand, they strive to establish the material legal conditions for the implementation of a Brazilian law (Resolução 391/2024 do CNJ) that allows for a prisoner’s sentence to be reduced by four days for every book read. Alongside academics and social workers, the Corpos Indoceis, Mentes Livres project has emblematic honorary members such as the world’s renowned activist and writer Angela Davis; the multi award winning writer Conceição Evaristo; and the gender-studies specialist Professor Gina Dent. Patricia’s latest film, Firminas em Fuga, celebrates the creation and the launch of the homonymous book with poems written by women in a Salvador retention centre, mentored by the members of the group Corpos Indoceis, Mentes Livres. The film was released at the prestigious Brazilian Literary Festival of Paraty (FLIP) in 2002, and received standing ovation from the public. Prior to that, amongst many other projects, Patricia directed the short-feature poetic film "While I wait for you, the light curdled" (2018) (a film and poetry fusion). The film was nominated for Best Experimental Short Film at the Arqfilm Festival in Santiago in 2018. It was also screened at the Cinetekton in Mexico City in 2019, among others. Her 2004 medium-length film Ira exposed the aggressions by neopentecostal churches to Candomblé terreiros. It received an honorable mention at Cinesul - Iberian-American Film and Video Festival, in 2005. It was exhibited at Mostra Internacional do Filme Etnográfico (2005) , I Encontro de Cinema Negro (2007). Currently, Patricia is working on her next documentary about the history Salvador’s Rowdy Women. She has also been participating as a researcher and collaborator in audiovisual series projects.
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