Quebrante

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Quebrante probes the environmental and political after-images of Brazil’s Trans-Amazonian BR-230 Highway—a dictatorship-era megaproject that still scars the rainforest. In the tiny pioneer town of Rurópolis, retired school-teacher and spelunker Ms. Erismar (“The Cave Woman”) guides filmmaker Janaina Wagner through caves, abandoned work sites, and nocturnal rituals.

Shot on 16 mm and structured as a “spell breaking,” the film fuses eco-criticism, decolonial geography, and Amazonian folklore to examine how infrastructure, extractivism, and myth co-produce both material and spectral landscapes.

Wagner’s hybrid methodology—part ethnography, part essay film—invites scholars of Latin American studies, environmental humanities, and visual anthropology to consider the highway as a palimpsest of state power, Indigenous erasure, and collective memory.

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Quebrante,Janaina Wagner,Brazil,cave,nature,history,Ruropolis,portuguese,documentary,experimental,Pará,Rurópolis,Transamazon BR230,Transamazon,The Cave Woman,Ms. Erismar,The Truly Underground Cinema,The Very Eye of the Night,culture,identity,identity politics,culture wars,left wing,right wing,intersectionality,identity groups,civilization,literacy,humanism,cancel culture,online culture,cultural revolution,cultural diffusion,culture shock,popular culture,pop culture,material culture,cultural capital,cultural assimilation ,environment,environmental,environmentalism,climate,climate change,global warming,habitat,ecosystem,ecology,eco,earth,planet,water,sustainable,sustainability,deforestation,agriculture,green,green economy,history,context,narrative,past,chronicle,lore,annals,historic,personal history,archive,record,saga,biography,memoir,study,visual arts,painting,drawing,printmaking,filmmaking,craft,crafts,architecture,ceramics,photography,video,videomaking,film,conceptual art,installation art,art exhibits,artmaking,photos,videography,sculpting,sculpture,theatre,theater,music,musicmaking,music performance,art styles,art history,plastic arts,fine art,fine arts,visual arts centers,visual arts education,jewelry,jewelrymaking,beaux arts,graphic arts,graphic design,abstract art,art galleries,art gallerist,galleries,gallery,gallerist,gallerists,illustration,women,womanhood,gender,girl,girlhood,mother,motherhood,female,cis woman,cis female,trans woman,trans female,women’s rights,women’s issues,lady,ladies,gentlewoman,madame,miss,missus,mrs.,dame,damsel,ingenue,lass,maid,maiden,belle,gal,ladyfriend,girlfriend,dear,darling,widow,matron,dowager,gender,gender equality,gender pay gap,women’s liberation,women’s rights,science,technology,tech,natural sciences,biological sciences,futurism,computer science,comp sci,sciences,scientific,technological,physical science,cognitive sciences,technological science,data science,data security,futurism,south america,south american countries,countries in south america,argentina,bolivia,brazil,chile,colombia,ecuador,guyana,paraguay,peru,suriname,uruguay,venezuela,south american politics,south american culture,south american cuisine,south american education,south america in media,south american languages,south america history,latin american studies,caribbean american studies,island studies,latin american culture,latin american history,latin american politics,caribbean american culture,caribbean american history,caribbean american politics,latin american languages,latin american and caribbean studies,hispanic american studies,hispanic people,hispanic culture,hispanic politics,geography,location,place,country,location,physical place,terrain,spatial awareness,territory,map,place,space,maps,cartography,countries,cities,mountains,territories,states,nations,borders,boundaries,topology,topography,cinema studies,film studies,cinema,film,movies,motion pictures,film history,film production,film criticism,cinema history,cinema production,cinema criticism,movie history,movie production,movie criticism,history of cinema,history of film; "Quebrante"; Pragda Films; "Quebrante";

00:00:22.188 --> 00:00:28.069
THERE IS SOMETHING TINNY ABOUT THE GREEN SOLITUDE OF THE TRANSAMAZÔNICA

00:00:40.665 --> 00:00:44.502
ONE OF THE STORIES OF THE ORIGIN OF THE MOON SAYS THAT, ONCE UPON A TIME,

00:00:45.837 --> 00:00:48.882
A GIGANTIC METEOR PLUMMETING THROUGH THE UNIVERSE

00:00:50.300 --> 00:00:53.303
COLLIDED WITH PLANET EARTH.

00:00:55.055 --> 00:00:59.059
THE IMPACT OF THE COLLISION BROKE THE EARTH INTO STONES AND PIECES,

00:01:00.101 --> 00:01:03.480
SWALLOWING ONE OF THEM INTO THE SKY.

00:01:05.732 --> 00:01:09.736
ONE OF THOSE PIECES BECAME THE MOON.

00:01:11.112 --> 00:01:14.908
A LOST PART OF THE EARTH.

00:01:17.619 --> 00:01:21.456
A PART THAT WE MISS.

00:01:24.751 --> 00:01:28.880
MAYBE THAT’S WHERE THE ROMANTIC ASSOCIATION WITH THE MOON COMES FROM

00:01:32.217 --> 00:01:35.428
OF THIS IDEA OF LONGING,

00:01:35.428 --> 00:01:38.348
OF A LOSS THAT CANNOT BE RECUPERATED.

00:01:40.475 --> 00:01:46.064
FROM THIS, WE MIGHT EXPERIENCE A SORROW TOWARDS THE MOON

00:01:48.525 --> 00:01:53.780
A FEELING WE COULD CALL MOON-PAIN.

00:02:01.704 --> 00:02:07.085
INAUGURATED IN 1974 BY THE DICTATOR GENERAL EMÍLIO MÉDICI,

00:02:08.837 --> 00:02:13.258
THE TINY TOWN OF RURÓPOLIS HAS MADE HISTORY

00:02:14.634 --> 00:02:19.430
FOR BEING THE FIRST CITY BUILT ON THE TRANSAMAZÔNICA HIGHWAY.

00:02:27.021 --> 00:02:32.360
DELIBERATELY COLONIZED BY THE CIVIC-MILITARY
DICTATORSHIP THAT RULED BRAZIL AT THE TIME,

00:02:34.779 --> 00:02:38.783
TRACTORS WOULD ROAR LOUDER THAN JAGUARS.

00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:46.624
THE ROAD SLIT LANDS

00:02:48.459 --> 00:02:52.005
AND SPLIT APART STONES.

00:02:55.717 --> 00:03:00.388
A PIECE OF ONE OF THOSE STONES WENT TO SKYES

00:03:03.516 --> 00:03:09.814
AND ANOTHER ONE WENT UNDERGROUND.

00:04:31.104 --> 00:04:33.147
IT WAS A HOLE.

00:04:34.440 --> 00:04:36.818
THEN WHEN I ENTERED IT,

00:04:38.987 --> 00:04:41.656
I LAID DOWN TO SEE WHAT IT WAS

00:04:43.283 --> 00:04:46.953
AND THAT'S WHEN I DISAPPEARED INSIDE.

00:05:00.550 --> 00:05:04.137
SLASHING THE COUNTRY FROM SIDE TO SIDE,

00:05:05.513 --> 00:05:11.311
THE TRANSAMAZÔNICA IS STILL NOWADAYS THE WARM SCAR OF A WRECKED DREAM

00:05:15.773 --> 00:05:20.653
OF BUILDING BRAZIL AS “THE COUNTRY OF THE FUTURE.”

00:05:26.200 --> 00:05:30.246
A CIRCULAR TRAGEDY OF AN ADDICTED DREAM.

00:05:31.998 --> 00:05:36.169
OF HISTORY AS A QUEBRANTO,

00:05:40.757 --> 00:05:43.301
A SPELLBINDING.

00:05:51.184 --> 00:05:55.688
A LIMBO OF PIECES AND STONES.

00:06:04.906 --> 00:06:08.409
AMONG DUST AND DEBRIS,

00:06:10.661 --> 00:06:14.123
SOME OF THOSE STONES BECAME STARS.

00:06:16.334 --> 00:06:19.462
SOME OF THOSE STONES BECAME COMETS.

00:06:21.881 --> 00:06:25.927
AND OTHERS BECAME MOONS.

00:06:57.917 --> 00:07:01.212
ENCRUSTED INTO THAT RIPPED GROUND,

00:07:04.006 --> 00:07:09.303
RURÓPOLIS CONCENTRATES THE LARGEST NUMBER
OF CAVERNS EVER FOUND IN THE AMAZONIAN REGION.

00:07:11.514 --> 00:07:16.436
THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR DISCOVERING THE
EXISTENCE OF THE CAVERNS IN THE REGION

00:07:17.937 --> 00:07:21.357
WAS A VERY CURIOUS MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER,

00:07:21.357 --> 00:07:24.444
NOW AGED 68,

00:07:24.444 --> 00:07:28.114
MS. ERISMAR.

00:07:30.116 --> 00:07:34.078
PULLED BY THE “MAGNETISM OF DARKNESS”

00:07:34.078 --> 00:07:37.790
MS. ERISMAR WALKED INSIDE THE STONE-HOLES

00:07:37.874 --> 00:07:42.295
WITH NOTHING BUT A CANDLE IN HER HAND AND A LIGHTER ATTACHED TO HER SHIRT

00:07:44.338 --> 00:07:48.926
- IN CASE THE FLAME WOULD FADE OUT.

00:07:54.265 --> 00:07:59.228
AN URBAN LEGEND IN RURÓPOLIS,

00:08:00.813 --> 00:08:05.693
MS. ERISMAR IS KNOWN, TO THIS DAY, AS “THE CAVE WOMAN”.

00:09:12.885 --> 00:09:15.346
I WAS NEVER AFRAID OF THE DARK.

00:09:23.854 --> 00:09:27.608
THE FEELING OF ENTERING INTO DARKNESS…

00:09:27.608 --> 00:09:31.320
WHICH IS NOT THE SAME DARKNESS OF A CLOSED HOUSE,

00:09:31.404 --> 00:09:34.615
IT IS MORE THAN THAT.

00:09:34.615 --> 00:09:38.995
IT IS DARKER THAN THE COLOR OF COAL.

00:09:48.546 --> 00:09:51.966
EVERY TIME I GET INSIDE A CAVERN I TURN OFF THE LIGHTS.

00:09:51.966 --> 00:09:55.845
TO FEEL THE DARKNESS AND ITS SENSATION.

00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:02.935
AND YOU SEE THAT IT IS A MAGNET.

00:10:45.061 --> 00:10:53.444
THE AMAZON OF TODAY IS THE UNBELIEVABLE PLACE WHERE FANTASY AND REALITY,
THE EPIC AND THE IMPOSSIBLE, THE EPOPEE AND THE LEGEND SEEM TO HOLD HANDS.

00:11:03.663 --> 00:11:07.750
THE STONES OF THE CAVERNS HAVE NEVER SEEN THE CONSTRUCTION OR THE ROAD ITSELF.

00:11:12.088 --> 00:11:17.343
NEITHER HAVE THE STONES OF THE ROAD SEEN THE STONES INSIDE THE CAVERNS.

00:11:23.766 --> 00:11:33.734
THE MOON, YET ANOTHER STONE, WAS PERHAPS THE SINGLE WITNESS TO WATCH IT ALL.

00:12:22.658 --> 00:12:27.621
THE STONES, THEY HAVE LIFE.

00:12:29.123 --> 00:12:33.335
THEY HAVE LIFE AND THEY GROW.

00:12:44.054 --> 00:12:49.268
TO BREAKE A QUEBRANTO ONE NEEDS TO CAST A QUEBRANTE.

00:12:49.351 --> 00:12:54.023
A SPELLBREAKING.

00:12:56.901 --> 00:13:00.279
QUEBRANTE:

00:13:01.739 --> 00:13:05.326
QUEBRANTO, QUEBRANTADO

00:13:06.660 --> 00:13:10.122
THE MOON PASSED THROUGH HERE, YOU-KNOW-WHO SHE TOOK ALONG

00:13:11.123 --> 00:13:15.294
QUEBRANTO, QUEBRANTADO

00:13:16.420 --> 00:13:19.799
MOON THAT WILL PASS THROUGH HERE, YOU-KNOW-WHO SHE WILL LEAVE

00:13:21.926 --> 00:13:24.887
HI, I AM THALIA, THE STAR #2.

00:13:25.846 --> 00:13:28.182
I AM ANA CLARA, AND I AM THE SUN.

00:13:28.808 --> 00:13:30.893
I AM ELISE, AND I AM THE EARTH.

00:13:31.227 --> 00:13:33.979
I AM MARIA EDUARDA, AND I AM THE MOON.

00:13:34.438 --> 00:13:36.774
AND THIS IS GRAVITY.

00:15:10.951 --> 00:15:14.163
THAT’S IT. THE END.

00:15:32.389 --> 00:15:39.939
WHAT MAKES US DO THIS IS THE EXPECTATION OF ENCOUNTERING SOMETHING STRANGE.

00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:45.861
THIS IS WHAT GIVES ME THE COURAGE TO ENTER A PLACE I DON'T KNOW.

00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:49.281
THE UNKNOWN.

00:15:50.074 --> 00:15:55.162
EVERY TIME I WOULD GIVE A LECTURE IN SCHOOL, I PRESENTED WHAT I HAD DISCOVERED.

00:15:55.245 --> 00:15:59.583
AND MANY OF THE PARENTS, MANY OF THE LANDOWNERS WOULD SAY:

00:15:59.667 --> 00:16:02.628
“THERE IS A HOLE IN MY LAND.”

00:16:02.711 --> 00:16:07.007
AND I WOULD BE THE ONE TO ENTER THAT HOLE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

00:16:19.520 --> 00:16:24.817
“MY WHOLE SURFACE IS TURNED TOWARD YOU – SAYS THE STONE.”

00:16:26.485 --> 00:16:29.697
“ALL MY INSIDES TURNED AWAY.”

00:16:32.825 --> 00:16:37.538
ONE CANNOT SEE THE HIDDEN FACE OF THE MOON

00:16:39.415 --> 00:16:44.712
AND ONE CANNOT SEE THE HIDDEN FACE OF A STONE.

00:16:47.172 --> 00:16:53.929
BOTH OF THEM EXIST ONLY IN THE DARK.

00:18:50.712 --> 00:18:54.883
IT REQUIRES ASKING THE EYE

00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:02.266
TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH WHAT IT CANNOT SEE.

00:19:06.770 --> 00:19:10.023
ACCOMPLICES OF A WORLD

00:19:11.859 --> 00:19:16.238
THAT EXISTS INDIFFERENT TO ANY LONELINESS.

00:19:17.906 --> 00:19:21.160
A WORLD THAT HAS NEVER NEEDED ANY WITNESSES.

00:19:22.911 --> 00:19:26.165
THINGS DO NOT EXIST TO BE SEEN.

00:19:27.666 --> 00:19:31.670
THEY SIMPLY EXIST.

00:20:42.616 --> 00:20:50.207
FILMED IN RODOVIA TRANSAMAZÔNICA & IN THE TOWN OF RURÓPOLIS
PARÁ, BRASIL - JUNE 2023

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