Santo Daime
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Documentary “The Lord of the Forest” (O senhor da Floresta) about Mestre Irineu by Mivan Gedeon

From the film maker’s website:

“The documentary “O Senhor da Floresta” directed by the journalist Mivan Gedeon, won the category “Best video from the State of Maranhao” awarded by the Technical Jury of the 30th Guarnicê Video and Cinema Festival in Sao Luis, Maranhao.

The 19 minute video was filmed on DVCAM. The film brings the testimony of Mestre Irineu’s relatives, amongst them, from his nephew, Daniel Serra, who lived with him for 15 years, and from two of his cousins, sons of Paulo Serra (adoptive uncle of Irineu), Rita Serra and José Barnabé (who is now diseased). It was José Barnabé who went from São Vicente de Ferrér to São Luís when Irineu returned to Rio Branco – Acre (in 1958), bringing with him three nephews, including Daniel Serra.

The first images for the video were shot in 2003, in São Vicente Férrer, birth city of Irineu. In 2005, the journalist went to Rio Branco (AC) and finished the video in 2007. The professional wrestler Rei Zulu was asked to play the main character in the documentary due to his physical resemblance to Mestre Irineu. For his acting debut, the wrestler was assisted by the famous theater director Urias de Oliveira.

Link to video of “O senhor da Floresta” (original in Portuguese with no English Subtitles):

Part 1:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aCbn-2EAXxI

Part 2:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=f2GlBvvjEjk

 

Original entry by Bia Labate: http://alto-das-estrelas.blogspot.com

Translation graciously provided by:
Flavia Dzodan

Filed under: Santo Daime

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Beatriz Caiuby Labate or Bia Labate was born in São Paulo in 1971. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social science from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in 1996. In 2000 she obtained a master’s degree in social anthropology from the same university, receiving the Prize for Best Master’s Thesis from the National Association for Graduate Studies in Social Science (ANPOCS). Her doctoral research in social anthropology at UNICAMP focuses on the internationalization of Peruvian ayahuasca “vegetalismo.” She is co-editor of the books O uso ritual da ayahuasca (Mercado de Letras 2002) and O uso ritual das plantas de poder (Mercado de Letras, 2005) and author of the book A reinvenção do uso da ayahuasca nos centros urbanos (Mercado de Letras, 2004). She is a researcher with the Nucleus for Interdisciplinary Studies of Psychoactives (NEIP). In February 2005 she founded Alto das Estrelas, a private institute which promotes political activism, anthropological research and public events, in addition to researching the cultivation and preparation of vegetal species.

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