Indianapolis International Film Festival 2009

Quilombola communities are predominantly rural social groups that have formed since the time when Brasil was a Portuguese Colony. The groups were formed by descendants of black slaves to live and resist together the Portuguese rule. There are currently 1,137 Quilombola communities recognized by the Brazilian government. Almost all Quilombola communities live under extreme poverty and lack of food. They have no lands to produce. They are underemployed and discriminated by the dominant classes. The Quilombola communities from Sambaquim and Riach?o do Sambaquim are located in the rural area of Pernambuco's district Panelas, which is 201 kilometers (125 miles) away from the capital Recife. The families of Sambaquim are descendants of the black population from the extinct quilombo of Palmares. The Quilombolas have never had the register of their own land. Land which was taken by local farmers that 'bought' it from registration offices during the first half of the twentieth century. Those who resisted the exodus and the lack of land and money still keep the history of the struggle of their people by dancing, singing and improvising the Mazurca and the Ciranda, local cultural habits. In 2005, members of the Sambaquim and Riach'o do Sambaquim Quilombola Association had the idea of gathering their efforts in order to achieve a collective dream. They made a bingo to raise money to hire a bus in order to make a trip to the ocean: To take a journey to achieve a dream. The furthest the view reaches.