The Dead and the Others

Father!

Where are you?

Ihjãc!

Can you see me?

No. But I can hear you.

I dreamed that you were here, so I came.

Father?

Are you here, Father?

You are forgetting my funerary feast.

I've been walking alone for some time in here.

At night, in the cold.

Make my funerary feast quickly,

so I can leave for my village.

Son, get in the water. I'll catch a fish for you.

I don't want to.

Father?

THE DEAD AND THE OTHERS

- Kôtô! - What?

- Where is your husband? - I don't know!

Tell him to cut the straw fast and bring it to cover our house.

While you stay there, he keeps stringing you along.

The rainy season is coming

and he didn't fix the roof yet.

Ok, I've already talked to him. We'll pick up the straw.

We must renew this roof quickly,

I don't want anyone complaining when the rain comes.

Come to suckle, Tepto.

Look, Tepto.

Take it!

Take the knife, Tepto.

I'm tired of carrying him on the lap.

Tepto is heavy, right?

I'm thirsty.

Me too.

I forgot the water.

I didn't remember.

Ihjãc, let's sleep here, in the swidden.

Let's go back to the village. I don't want to stay here.

But Tepto is already sleeping.

Better stay here tonight. We leave tomorrow morning.

Where did you go the other night?

Nowhere.

I woke up because Tepto was crying and you weren't there.

I...

I woke up to pee.

Then I saw a trail of anteater

and followed it,

trying to hunt.

I heard a noise and waited,

but the animal didn't appear.

Only then I went back home.

Is it true?

Aren't you lying?

I woke up during the night with Tepto crying.

Ihjãc wasn't there.

Maybe he's dating someone.

Could be.

Yesterday, I waited for my boyfriend but he didn't show up.

So I thought: "Let him date another one then".

What about you, Amxi? Who are you dating?

Kryjtep.

But we haven't met for a long time.

I don't like him anymore.

- Do you think that he likes you? - I don't know.

I just don't want to deal with him anymore.

- I think everyone has noticed that. - What do you mean?

Let's bathe!

It's cold.

Look, there's Amxi!

Let's go there.

Kôtô!

Are you hungry? Do you wanna eat?

Did you hear the shots last night?

No.

The other day, a candidate came to the village

to speak to the community.

He offered us 10 Reais to vote for him

but no one accepted, and he left very angry.

We've heard that he went to our sign in the road,

the one that says: "Pedra Branca, Indigenous Territory",

and filled it with bullets.

The sign got full of holes.

Tepto doesn't stop crying. I don't know what else to do.

He must be hungry.

Did you breastfeed him? He didn't eat anything.

He has already suckled.

What can we do?

This may be because of the mecarõ.

You should look for a shaman and ask him to talk with the mecarõ

to find out who's disturbing Tepto.

The shaman is the only one who can see

and give Jenipapo fruit, tobacco or ashes to protect his body.

This way, Tepto will calm down and sleep.

If he cries again, I'll call you, Grandfather.

Then you take care of Tepto

and use something to calm him down.

This dawn...

If he keeps crying, wake me up and I'll try to help,

even though it's not my duty.

But tomorrow, you go look for a shaman.

Only he can know who is harming the child

and making him cry.

Shamans are like that.

Sometimes, they don't like us and invoke a curse.

But they can also do us good

and cure us.

Nowadays, some shamans die young.

In old days, it was even worse.

If he invoked a curse on someone,

the family would take revenge and kill him.

I don't like these shamans,

but I respect those who cure people.

I've suffered a lot because of shamans that harmed me.

I don't like being even close to them.

They aren't reliable at all.

There are many shamans that do bad things.

Shamans that use magic to kill.

Kôtô, that night...

I...

I went to the waterfall.

The big one, you know?

Do you know the one I'm talking about?

The one with the highest fall.

I went there...

because I dreamed of my father,

that he was in those waters.

I went after him, called him, and he made a request.

I only heard his voice.

Then...

He asked me to organize the feast for the end of the mourning

so he can leave for the dead's village.

He wanted to take me with him, but I didn't go.

I'll talk to my kin, we must prepare the log.

Why didn't you tell me? I asked, but you said nothing.

I...

I haven't talked to anyone about what's going on.

I don't want anybody to think that I speak with the dead,

that I'm becoming a shaman,

so I decided to keep my mouth shut.

I know.

Mother, let's go to the city to buy another machete.

This one doesn't cut anymore.

I can go, but they won't sell me.

My debt is too big,

I don't want to go to the city.

The shop owner will be rude to me,

even if the money is mine.

You can use that old machete.

Just sharpen it on the stone

so it will cut anything again.

Mother!

What is it?

I asked for a new machete because we must go to the swidden.

Ihjãc wants to work on the land

to end his father's funerary feast.

You should really go and prepare the food for the feast.

If you miss me, come to see me.

And if I miss you and Tepto

I will go there to visit you.

You'd better plant it fast to make the log race soon.

Yeah...

I will miss you,

and I will miss my friends too.

Maybe Ihjãc could go alone.

But it's better if we both go.

So we work together.

Let me see the color of your nail polish.

This nail polish...

Is this the "Hot Kiss" nail polish?

Everyone is using it.

Sit down to eat.

Here, Mother.

Where did you find this moriche palm fruit?

Close to Cupakà's swidden

there's a tree full of fruits.

Mother...

It's been a while since Father died.

I already have a wife and son

but we haven't finished our mourning yet.

Let's make the funerary feast.

So we don't miss him anymore

and Father can follow his way.

I've also been thinking about it.

We need to harvest all manioc that your father planted

and invite our kin for the log race.

It's been a while since he died.

But you never went to his swidden again.

You are my oldest son.

I count on you to help me.

Don't worry, Mother.

We will go to the swidden

in a few days.

I have talked to Uncle and Grandpa.

They will also help.

We will do it right.

We will clear off the swidden, then burn and sow it.

It will take a while.

Then, back to the village

we will make a beautiful funerary feast.

That's all I want.