Cabra Marcado Para Morrer (1984) - full transcript
Eduardo Coutinho was filming a movie with the same name in the Northeast of Brazil, in 1964, when there came the military coup. He had to interrupt the project, and came back to it in 1981, looking for the same places and people, showing what had ocurred since then, and trying to gather a family whose patriarch, a political leader fighting for rights of country people, had been murdered.
"As he followed the restoration
process of 'Man Marked for Death',
Eduardo Coutinho said the names
of Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira,
Carlos Augusto Calil and Celso
Amorim should be acknowledged
for their contribution to the
making of the film in 1984,
which could not be done
at the time."
MAN MARKED FOR DEATH, 20 YEARS LATER
It is an underdeveloped
country, underdeveloped
Underdeveloped, underdeveloped
Underdeveloped, underdeveloped country
And, after the colonial period,
the country became...
April, 1962.
These images were shot
during UNE-Volante,
a congress held by
the National Union of Students,
who travelled the country promoting
discussions about
higher education reform.
The students travelled
with members from the CPC,
the UNE's Popular Cultural Centre.
Their intention was
to encourage the creation
of similar local cultural centres
in other states.
Images of poverty contrasted with
emblems of imperialism.
This was a typical cultural
tendency in those days,
as "A Song of Underdevelopment",
a classic song by the CPC,
shows very well.
As a member of the CPC
and the one who was
in charge of filming,
I also paid tribute to the
nationalism of the day.
I went to Alagoas
to film at an oilfield
that Petrobras
was starting to explore.
After being in Pernambuco,
UNE-Volante arrived in Paraíba
on April 14th.
Two weeks before that
João Pedro Teixeira,
founder and leader
of the Sapé Peasant Workers' League,
had been murdered.
The day after we arrived,
a rally was held in Sapé
in protest at his murder,
about 30 miles from
the capital João Pessoa.
Elizabeth Teixeira,
João Pedro's widow,
was there with six
of their eleven children.
The peasants assembled
in front of the headquarters
of the Rural and
Farmworkers' Association,
known as the Peasant League.
At that time, the Sapé League was the
largest in the Northeast,
with more than seven thousand members.
The League had been
registered three years before
as a civil corporation in private law.
Since forming a rural union
was actually impossible,
the farm workers founded leagues
the only legal way
to channel their demands.
Elizabeth Teixeira was 37 years old.
João Pedro died when he was 44.
Before the peasants went to the rally,
I made my first
contact with Elizabeth.
I briefly interviewed her
at the League's headquarters.
The issues of land occupation
taxes, compulsory unpaid work,
uncompensated evictions,
the use of violence
by major landowners.
In the struggle against all this,
João Pedro had united
the region's peasants.
It was this day, that I had the idea
of making a feature film
about the life of João Pedro Teixeira.
I would call it
"Man Marked for Death".
Produced by the UNE's CPC,
and Pernabuco's Movement
for Popular Culture, MCP,
the film was to be shot
at the same locations
with the same people
who lived this story.
Elizabeth and her children
would play themselves.
"Peasants from Sapé
Hold Their First Protest Rally"
Two years later,
we were ready to start filming.
But on January 15th, 1964,
there was a violent incident near Sapé.
The police
and the guards from the sugar mill
clashed with the peasants.
11 died in the conflict.
The area was occupied by the
Paraiba Military Police,
making it impossible
for us to shoot there.
The emergency forced me to move
the film's location.
I found the perfect spot at the
Galileia sugar mill in Pernambuco,
where the first Peasant League
had been formed in 1955.
When we got to Galileia,
in the municipality
of Vitória de Santo Antão,
about 30 miles
from the capital Recife,
we began to prepare for filming.
With the League's permission
and cooperation from the locals,
we chose the locations and the actors.
On February 26th, 1964,
when we shot the first scenes
of "Man Marked for Death",
we were helped by those peasants
who were not controlled by landowners
and who could dedicate their time
to working on the film.
After struggling for four years,
they now owned their own land,
that ended in the
expropriation of Galileia.
João Mariano, who played
João Pedro Teixeira,
was not from Galileia.
After being fired from
the sugar mill where he used to work,
he had moved
to Vitória de Santo Antão.
As he was a Protestant
like João Pedro,
João Mariano was hired
along with five of his children.
We were supposed
to use these images of
the Teixeira family going back
from the town to the country
with the opening credits.
From the original intention of shooting
with people portraying themselves,
Elizabeth Teixeira, was in fact
the only person to play herself.
She travelled with us
from Paraíba to Pernambuco.
On April 1st, 35 days
after the start of the shooting,
filming was stopped
by the military coup of 1964.
Only 40% of the script had been shot.
Galileia was raided by the Army
and the principal local
peasant leaders were arrested.
Some members of the crew
were also arrested,
but most of us managed
to escape to Recife
and then on to Rio de Janeiro.
Film equipment,
negatives, unedited film,
magnetic tape, copies of
scripts and documentation
were all confiscated.
But most of the film negative
that we had already shot was safe,
because it had already
been sent to the lab in Rio de Janeiro
to be developed.
We also saved eight stills,
kept by a member of the crew.
Finally, after two years,
I got a copy of the script back.
It had been rescued in August, 1964,
by a lawyer working for
the Paraíba peasant leagues
from the place she had been
held prisoner.
February, 1981.
17 years later,
I went back to Galileia
to finish the film in
whatever way I could.
There was no planned script.
I just wanted to find
the peasants who had worked
on "Man Marked for Death".
I wanted to hear
their stories from the past,
including the ones concerning
the disrupted filming,
the real story
behind João Pedro's life,
the struggle in Sapé,
the struggle in Galileia.
I also wanted to know what had
happened to the people in the film
during the intervening years.
Only two of the peasants who
started the struggle for Galileia.
are still alive.
José Hortêncio da Cruz
and João Virgínio Silva,
who doesn't know how to read or write
and is the living memory of the group.
Our first meeting...
there was him...
his brother-in-law...
his nephew and me.
We were here, talking...
Right here, in this very place.
I told them my story, the ideas I had
of founding a society
to work for the people and
those already deceased.
The dead used to be buried in a coffin
that the mayor kept in his office.
He would lend it to us,
we'd bury the dead in the ground
and take the coffin back
to the mayor's office.
The coffin was called "Lolo".
We borrowed it from the mayor
so that we could bury the dead.
Galileia was a disused
sugar plantation
which had been split into small lots.
150 tenant families lived there,
growing subsistence crops.
The owner of the plantation
lived in Recife.
The families had a lease
and paid annual rent.
The raise in rents
was one of the reasons
for the creation of the League.
We got together,
we started to hold meetings.
We held them on the side of
the road, by the weir,
at my house. Everywhere!
Then we got to the room of
this lad's father's house.
Old Zezé's living room.
When old Zezé allowed me
to hold our first meeting
in his living room,
we stated our goals
and came up with a name:
The Charitable Society for the Dead and
the Pernambuco Planter's
Agricultural Society.
Because back then, we couldn't call
anything a union otherwise
we'd be in trouble.
We'd be killed.
José Francisco de Souza
(Zezé da Galileia)
was a highly respected man who had
administered the sugar mill
for over 30 years,
and was elected president
of the League.
The owner of Galileia
decided to evict all the tenants
when he realised the League
was not only for the dead,
but also aimed to improve
conditions for the tenants.
So, the tenants looked for a lawyer,
to defend their rights.
That was how I sought justice.
I didn't find it in Vitória,
so I went to the State Courts.
The Chairman of the Courts...
gave me his deputy, Julião.
Julião came, took over
the fight, and made it work.
When things began to improve, people
got excited and started pouring in.
All of those who'd
been evicted from the sugar mill,
came for help.
There's a society in Galileia
that protects the rights
of the country workers.
The lawyer was really tough.
So, you see?
So, the men came...
And when they got here,
we offered them shelter.
After four years,
when the owner gave up,
he made out he was going
to sell the property.
So we went to the deputy, and he said,
"I'll file it for discussion
before the Chamber
and see what we can do about it."
There was a set-to!
They put up a real fight!
One of them would shout, "Fellows...
"we can't expropriate Galileia
"because this is not about
expropriating one Galileia,
"but expropriating many Galileias,
"because the idea will spread
like wildfire
"across Brazil, from
the north to the south.
"Because these people will get
hooked on the idea, they will,
"they'd organise and force
the Judicial Power
to purchase other properties."
But fortunately, we won.
Fortunately.
Fortunately, the deputies
voted in our favour.
The expropriation of Galileia
for reasons of social interest
was carried out in December, 1959,
after a fair financial compensation,
as the Constitution demands.
Galileia then became
a symbol of the peasant movement.
But the families still don't
have the deeds to this day.
Right after we arrived in Galileia,
we managed to show the community
what we had shot in 1962 and 1964.
The actors were our special guests.
José Daniel do Nascimento,
67 years old, moved to Galileia
after being evicted
from a neighbouring mill.
One of his children was sucking
on a piece of sugarcane
without the master's approval.
Brás Francisco da Silva, 52 years old,
was one of the leaders
in the struggle for Galileia.
He doesn't live here anymore.
He had to flee in 1964
and is now rarely seen.
This man talking to João
Virgínio is Bia, 56 years old,
who left Galileia in 1975
and never came back.
He's a night watchman at a quarry.
João Mariano Santana da Silva,
59 years old, who played
the part of João Pedro,
had not been to Galileia since 1964.
He only meets these people rarely
at the street market
in Vitória de Santo Antão,
where he lives.
João Mariano has brought
his grandchildren along.
We showed it exactly
as it had been filmed --
out of order, with incomplete scenes,
repeated scenes, clapperboards, etc.
Don't talk about him,
cos he's back there!
Saturday evening was
the only time we could
get them all together.
Some had come a long way
to see the show.
That's Mariano, isn't it?
Yeah, that's Mariano.
Yeah! I recognise him!
That's Mariano. Look at him!
What intrigued them the most,
was identifying the people
in the film,
17 years younger.
- Are they gonna fight?
- Christ!
They're fighting!
He's the boss...
Zé Daniel still lives in Galileia.
He was our actor, and his
house was our main set:
João Pedro's house.
Did you enjoy watching
the film on Saturday?
On Saturday? It was really good.
What did you think about it?
I thought it was very good.
Very interesting.
Because... what we all
did for this work --
When did you become a Protestant?
After the revolution.
Wasn't it on April 1st?
Yes...
On May 25th, that same year...
I gave myself to Jesus,
and I am still His...
What church do you attend?
The Baptist Church?
Assembly of God.
Look at Braz!
That's Braz over there!
You remember when we made the film?
Oh, I do, because we had such
a good time making it.
And what did you think about it?
It was good.
But I missed the sound.
Braz Francisco da Silva
is the only one of
the actors who prospered.
On his 4-hectare plot of land,
he grows vegetables
that he sells in Recife.
Six of his children live in São Paulo,
and three neighbours
help him with the work.
Working hard in the fields
since he was 8 years old,
Braz admits he's tired
and wants to sell his land.
Do you really want to sell it?
I do.
If anyone wants to buy it.
Do you want to buy it?
Who? Me?
How much do you want for it?
I'll take 3 million for it.
3 million cruzeiros or up.
Braz, known as João to his neighbours,
fled Galileia in 1964,
and changed his name
to avoid persecution.
Disillusioned with political activities,
Braz no longer likes Galileia
and he doesn't want to remember
the struggles of the past.
Yeah, that's Cícero!
Look, that's Cícero!
He's all the way down south
and we're seeing him here.
Yeah, show us more!
Limeira, rural São Paulo.
Cícero Anastácio da Silva.
When did you start working here?
On May 5th, last year.
What do you do here?
Iron rolling.
Why did you come down south?
I was working back there, I had a job.
But then I lost my job and
was unemployed for six months.
I moved south last year, in March.
Are you happy working here?
Have you got used to it? How is it?
I'm all right, I'm happy.
No one is mad at me.
My fellow workers, the bosses...
They all like my work,
they don't say anything against me.
But don't you want to go back?
I want to go back.
I'd like to very much.
It is very cold here.
My wife doesn't like the cold.
If I could send her
back home, I would.
Back north, I had places to go,
people to talk to.
I had the League,
where we took charge of things.
We used to talk about
how to make things happen.
But I've got no one here.
The only thing I have
is a television set.
So I can watch the news,
because I like to watch it
and know what's going on.
That's all I like to watch.
As the only actor
from Galileia who could read and write,
Cícero was also a production
assistant for the film.
What are your memories of the film?
What I remember is...
the scene I did roofing that house.
The other asked me,
and I said,
"Dried meat's so expensive.
How are we supposed to live?"
I picked up a tile...
and I handed it over
to the fellow on the roof.
Roofing the house.
And he said to me...
And I answered,
"Dried meat's so expensive.
How are we supposed to live?"
Did you ever hope we would
go back and finish the film?
I was always hopeful
you would go back and finish the film.
I used to think about it.
My late mother would say,
"They're not coming
back, my son."
I'd say, "They are, Mum.
You won't see it if you die,
but you will if you live."
- Elizabeth Teixeira, right?
- So it is! Look at her!
Although they hadn't seen
Elizabeth Teixeira since 1964,
the actors recognised her immediately.
Elizabeth had disappeared
17 years before.
Not even her family
and peers at the Sapé League
knew where she had gone.
Abraão, her eldest son,
was the only one who knew.
I went looking for Abraão
in Patos, in rural Paraíba,
where he's a journalist.
After making many demands,
he agreed to take the film crew
to his mother's house.
We went to the border with Paraíba
and entered Rio Grande do Norte,
without knowing exactly
where we were being taken.
After a four-hour trip
and taking back roads
in bad conditions,
we glimpsed a small town
in the middle of nowhere,
down by the Piranhas River.
São Rafael was a good hideout.
About 180 miles from Sapé
and 310 miles from Galileia,
the town has a population
of under three thousand
and there's no TV reception there.
Elizabeth lived in São Rafael
with her son, Carlos,
the only child she took with her.
She had changed her name
to Marta Maria da Costa.
Elizabeth wasn't expecting me.
I started our conversation
by showing her the remaining
eight stills from the film.
Yes.
How did you get these?
This was what we managed to save.
The photographer had hidden them.
I'm surprised.
I thought they had
destroyed everything.
They took the original,
but not the copy.
I mean: the original was in Rio.
They got the copy in --
Mum, do you recognise President
Figueiredo's re-democratisation?
Yes. President Figueiredo--
We're here thanks to him.
Thanks to him,
I'm here today with you.
The only Government
that deserves our gratitude,
for having given the right
for all political prisoners
who had fled Brazil,
to come back to their families.
And now I am...
here with my son
seeing you again, Coutinho.
I never expected to see you
today in my house.
Who should we thank for this?
Right...?
My hope,
I had no hope left...
of even seeing my children again.
I was afraid.
I suffered a lot!
I suffered.
You are my witnesses.
I suffered a lot.
The persecution was too great.
They tried very hard...
to get rid of me.
Have you been living here
for very long?
Yes, 16 years.
You came here 16 years ago?
16 years.
After all that happened,
I fled and I managed to get here.
Things got really nasty.
They looked for me everywhere.
I couldn't stay in Recife.
After I got here,
things got better in terms
of the persecution.
I hid.
No one knew who I was.
No one knew who I was.
Now, everyone in this room knows!
You all know.
When I came here,
I didn't say I had children.
After I made some friends,
I would tell them,
"I have children, I'm a widow,
my husband was murdered."
But before that I kept quiet.
But before I wouldn't say anything.
I was silent, haunted.
But thank God I'm here today,
telling you this story.
And João Alfredo
and Pedro the farmer... these...
They...
Tell us...
Mum, I'm not trying to influence your
views on politics.
But all regimes are the same,
if a person
has no political protection.
They're all...
they're all harsh,
violent, arbitrary.
Regardless of class
and economic background.
All political factions have
forsaken Elizabeth Teixeira,
simply because she had no power.
This is the disgust of her eldest son.
Now, if you don't register my protest,
my vehemence,
the missing truth,
the intellectual
and expressive capacity...
of my mother's heart.
I'll record everything
the family wants to say.
But I want the film to show...
our rejection
of any form of government!
It will, I guarantee it.
No political system helps the poor.
None.
That's Abraão to the left.
I was thin, in black.
That same night,
we showed Elizabeth,
her two sons and her neighbours,
the old footage.
There's Elizabeth planting peanuts!
Abraão watched it
without saying a word.
This one played my husband.
The boys are happy...!
Ah, my God...!
Is that her family?
No, they were playing the parts!
This is us, on our way
to our second day
of shooting with Elizabeth Teixeira.
Out of a total of three days.
On the first day, Abraão made his
presence felt, affecting the interview,
especially at the beginning.
He didn't show up
for the following days.
Elizabeth told us about
her life with João Pedro
in two stages:
with and without Abraão.
In her living room
and in her backyard.
Is Elizabeth in?
Come here, Elizabeth.
How's the class going?
They're inside,
this group of children.
Hi! How are you, Coutinho?
How's class going?
It's good, but the children
aren't all here.
Today's the first day. They're going
to meet the teachers today,
so they're not all here.
Do you want to come in?
Come on in.
All right, we're going
to check if the light's good enough.
All right!
How do you like the town?
It's nice.
Coutinho, last night
I lay in bed thinking.
I said, "I didn't speak
very well in the interview."
Yesterday, I was
very emotional as well.
You end up feeling...
and you get all...
Because I should've told you
everything from the beginning.
How we met,
got married and moved to Jaboatão.
If we had filmed it today,
I would have been more accurate.
We can do it again today.
You have a backyard, right?
Yes.
Come take a look.
OK.
Elizabeth, who stopped
studying as a second grader,
was giving reading
and writing classes,
to a group of local children.
Do you remember
the year you got married?
The year...?
Forty... two!
And how did you meet
João Pedro de Teixeira?
I met him in my father's store.
He was buying there.
Then, we started courting,
and eventually we got married.
Did your father oppose the marriage?
He did!
Is it true you had to elope
because he didn't approve?
How did it happen?
We eloped and got married.
My father never agreed to the marriage.
I eloped.
And so you got married and moved
to the Massangana sugar mill?
Massangana!
- João Pedro went to work there?
- He did.
- What did he do?
- He worked at the quarry.
- At the plantation?
- On the plantation land.
- When did you go to Cavaleiro?
- To Cavaleiro? 1945!
Things were going bad,
so we moved to Cavaleiro.
He worked at a quarry...
over there,
in the outskirts of Recife.
Then João Pedro and Manoel
Serafim became friends.
They were neighbours and they
went to the same Baptist church,
and worked at the same quarry.
Manoel Serafim still works there
and still lives in Cavaleiro,
a district of Jaboatão, Recife.
He was not very dark, fairly light,
with wild curly hair...
yes, rather wild.
He had rather wiry hair.
Rather wiry.
He was built like this.
He was strong.
His face was wider,
and this was a bit higher.
A round face, and his forehead was...
like people say...
he had a good man's features.
A person you rely on.
A high forehead,
without being bald.
- Was he lively?
- He was strong!
He had a body like this, if not
stronger, a bit stronger than him.
Muscular... muscular arms.
We lived in Recife.
In Recife, he started
to get into politics.
After joining the workers' union...
- At the quarry?
- The workers at the quarry.
When I was in Cavaleiro
he already had those ideas.
Those political ideas of his.
Always on the workers' side.
He was dedicated to the workers,
he fought for the unions,
and for the workers' rights.
So, they stopped hiring him
at the quarries.
They started clamping down,
put pressure on him and he left.
When he left...
he went to Paraíba.
And he became president
of the Land Workers' League.
Then, I told him,
"There's some dangerous men up there.
It'll come to a bad end."
He said, "I'll tell you this,
I don't want to die,
"but I'm not afraid of being shot,
for what I believe in."
And he said it like this,
"I may be shot dead up there,
"but it's better than starving
to death down here!
It's better than starving
to death down here."
So, Dad sent for us.
Once we got there,
he managed to set up the League.
He started to organise
the Land Workers' League in 1958.
1958, 1959, 1960, 1961.
In 1962 he was murdered.
What was the farm like?
Was it your father's?
The farm we lived on was Dad's.
It was Dad's.
- How big was it?
- I don't know how many acres.
- Was it small?
- Yes, it was small.
Did João Pedro know how to write?
Yes, he did.
He knew how
to read and write. A bit.
Had he always been a Protestant?
No.
- He became one later?
- Later.
- In Jaboatão?
- Yes.
In Jaboatão he dedicated
himself to it there.
He spent a long time at it.
Then he dedicated himself to politics.
He concentrated on the League
and abandoned his church.
Until one day, when he was
arrested by the Army.
They asked him
a lot of things about the Bible.
And he knew everything!
"So your ideas are really
those of a Protestant!
You can answer
all my questions."
You stayed a Catholic?
Yes, always.
- You never argued over religion?
- No, never!
- He was OK with it?
- He would say...
he wouldn't baptise the children.
They'd be pagan.
I was fine with it.
It wasn't a problem.
He worked in the fields.
He lived in the fields,
and he worked the fields.
And in his free time?
In his free time, at night,
on Saturdays and Sundays
he was out, or the workers
would come over to the house.
Then he would discuss with them,
and he'd ask them how
they were surviving.
Others came to complain
they were being evicted,
that the owner wanted them to leave.
That they should have
rights over their land.
He told them, "Friends, we must unite.
"If we are united,
"we can end this tradition,
"of the owner taking our land.
"But, unless we unite...
they will keep on doing this,
and that's that!"
Market day was meeting day.
He would go to the market
and talk to the workers.
And I worked at the League
stamping cards,
signing them, asking who wanted to join,
for how long and how much
they were going to pay.
In this scene
from "Man Marked for Death"
a group of peasants led by João Pedro
were arguing with the administrator
over rent increases.
The dialogue was created
by the actors themselves,
after they improvised
prior to filming.
What's going on?
You shouldn't have come here together!
When it's time to pay the rent,
only one of you needs to come.
This makes you look bad.
I'll change your housing situation.
You're too close to one another.
We pay on time,
but you're asking for too much!
João Pedro, you're the leader!
You came up with these ideas!
He's not the leader.
But according to the agreement,
he can make a reasonable
appeal for all of us.
We have no choice in the matter.
I'm very upset with you
about all of this!
You're upset?
You shouldn't be!
If your son dies, I bury him.
If your wife gets sick,
I put her in a hospital.
You have everything you need!
We're not convinced!
You need to try harder!
You're not thinking straight,
you don't seem to have any sense!
You're half-witted.
You're a brute! You make
things bad for yourself!
Let's settle this!
Can't you see the owners don't die?
The administrators don't die.
Only the peasants die!
We don't want to fight with you,
but we can't afford to pay.
You know you're mine and I am yours.
I want you to be satisfied.
I don't want to fight!
This land is all ours!
But I can't cancel the
increase in rent.
I can only do that when the boss
comes back from the capital,
in a week's time.
I have to do as the boss tells me.
Well, it can wait a week, can't it?
According to what his answer is,
then we'll decide.
Let's think about it.
Life is sweet.
Go home, talk to your families.
Stop this nonsense.
We're together in this.
So, we'll come back next week
to hear his answer.
One day, mark my words,
the day will come...
when you will no longer
be able to do this!
So, your father had
a quarrel with João Pedro.
Yes. And Dad said
he wanted his land back.
He wanted to take back
what was rightfully his.
I tried to reason with him.
He said it wasn't working out.
Then, Dad got really mad at him.
We had some cattle at home.
Dad had sent the cattle
for us to tend to.
To look after the milking.
So, Dad took the cattle back
and sold the farm to Antônio Vítor,
so we were forced to leave.
Dad used to say,
"He should get your own land
and live on it!"
It was all very unfair.
Why unfair?
They used to kill the land workers.
They were thrown out
without any rights.
There was persecution.
People were persecuted.
You couldn't even go out to work.
Persecuted...
We saw people die.
It was so unfair
that families were left
abandoned in the fields.
While they took over the plantations.
Alfredo wasn't a leader.
He was a member of the League.
He was tough.
He was a fighter...
and he was very long suffering,
because of Pedro Ramos,
who put him under a lot of pressure.
Until one day
he was working in the field,
and the landowner...
the landowner's hired thugs arrived.
They beat him and shot him dead.
And when they threw stones
at the door, you sang, right?
They threw stones, they banged on
our door and called for him to come out.
They said the lawyer
was there, waiting for him.
Do you remember the "Coco" song
you used to sing?
- I do!
- How did it go?
He was arrested many times
by the police.
He made it easy.
One day when I was teaching the
children. They were sitting at the table
and he was sitting outside on the porch,
bare-chested,
when a group of policemen arrived!
A lot of them.
And he couldn't do anything.
Nothing, nothing, nothing!
They took him,
bare-chested and all.
He believed in the struggle.
The landowners
offered him money,
so that he'd give up the fight.
They offered him another
way to survive.
I remember this day and night.
The things he had to go through.
But he never gave in.
He never came home and said,
"Elizabeth, I regret it!"
That, never!
He stood strong!
He said, "I'll organise
a rally on Saturday."
I said, "It's impossible
to organise a rally."
He said, "I will!"
I said, "Count me in!"
He got into a jeep and
spread the word around the farms.
And that day we held
the biggest protest rally of all.
He knew the landowners would kill him.
One day I asked him,
"João Pedro, we need
to leave this state.
"We can't do this anymore.
It's too difficult.
"These men come by,
and say the landowners
"will kill you.
"They say the day
that you're killed...
"they'll cut off your ear
and drink it with cãna.
"This is no good!
We have to get out of here
and go south."
He looked at me and said,
"You and my children are here.
"I took some pictures.
Keep them as a reminder.
"But I won't step down.
"I know they're going
to kill me. I'm sure.
"I see hatred in their faces.
"Wherever I go,
"I hear them whisper.
"And I can see how
deeply they hate me.
"I know that I've had it.
"I will fall, they'll kill me.
"But I can tell you this.
They'll do it in a cowardly way!"
"Peasant Family Threatened"
It was April 2nd, on a Monday.
He was going to make
a deal with the lawyer...
about matters...
concerning the land we lived on.
Because we had a disagreement
with the owner.
The lawyer had called him
that day,
and he was going to pick up
some books for our eldest son,
who was starting secondary school.
He brought my books, didn't he?
Yes.
You're a real teacher to me, Elizabeth
Teixeira... you're a school for me.
She is, above all,
my life force, my reason for living.
To be able to talk
to Mr. Eduardo Coutinho.
To argue with him
over 100,000 cruzeiros,
over 50,000 cruzeiros,
10,000 cruzeiros, 20,000 cruzeiros.
I would even argue
over 10 million cruzeiros
if I had to...!
Because besides having
a saint for a father,
I have a mother who is,
what you can see here...
Thank you, and sorry to interrupt.
Go on!
When he was murdered
on Café do Vento Road,
even the books he was
carrying had bullet holes,
and were covered in blood.
He was smoking when he was shot.
At around 8am they were
selling "A Folha do Povo",
and the newspaper
had the whole story on him.
And everybody
bought it. It said,
"President of
the Paraíba Land Workers' League Shot."
And his name was printed there
as the name of a great man.
And we all felt so sad.
It happened, and it seemed
like the dream was gone.
Everything stopped moving.
It felt very cold.
As if the sun had gone out.
The sadness of snatching a life
and leaving only emptiness.
That's how everyone felt.
And why didn't you hear about
João Pedro's death until the next day?
The reason...
I think the landowners
tried to cover it up.
And our comrades,
after they found out about it,
they were also...
they didn't have the courage...
to come and tell me what had happened.
And how did you react?
Were you desperate?
Here's the thing.
I...
could hardly believe it.
I went to the town where his body was.
Abraão came with me.
We walked.
Then we got transport halfway.
I went down to the morgue
where his body was.
His body was covered in bullet holes.
It was barbaric!
So sad.
He still had dirt in his ears...
And there was a pool of blood
on the floor.
And the murderers were never punished?
They were never punished.
João Pedro Teixeira
was killed in an ambush
on April 2nd, 1962,
by two officers
from the Military Police.
Another participant was a cowhand from
landowner Agnaldo Veloso Borges' farm,
also took part in the ambush.
"Agnaldo Makes Statement to
Enquiry Committee"
The judge in Sapé issued a pretrial
detention order for Agnaldo,
who was seen as one of the instigators
of the crime.
But he managed to avoid prosecution,
by taking office
in the Legislative Assembly.
Agnaldo was the fifth vice-deputy.
One deputy and four other substitutes
stepped down on the same day,
to allow him to take office.
In March, 1965,
the two police officers
who shot João Pedro
were unanimously acquitted by a jury.
"Officers Accused of Shooting
João Pedro Have Been Acquitted"
We started to show the film
in Galileia over an hour ago,
everyone's watching closely.
João Virgínio and his wife,
Braz, Bia...
Zé Daniel...
João Mariano.
João Mariano was the only actor
who was not politically active.
When we invited him to be in the film
we told him who João Pedro was.
João Mariano immediately agreed,
mostly because, after having
been evicted from a mill,
he was still unemployed.
But then
he gradually started to relate
to João Pedro's character.
João Mariano is the head
of a Baptist congregation,
in Vitória de Santo Antão.
I decided to interview him
the following day.
Without letting him know I was coming.
Here's the thing...
I don't take part...
in certain movements.
I got into this movement 16 years ago,
through the mill.
When the movement came along...
Hold on a minute.
There's too much wind. Cut.
You can go on now. What you
were saying was perfect.
You can speak, Mariano.
Don't be afraid.
Just tell me how
you live and that's it.
OK, Mariano?
Mariano...?
I believe you know
everything about it.
I didn't want to be involved.
I worked at the mill.
Because of the League and so on.
I got out because I didn't want
to be part of it.
It proves I didn't want
to be part of it.
When I got to town
and you came to see me,
so I took on the... let's say... career,
without knowing what I was doing.
Then, I realised it was
all about property,
land, and so on.
Because I don't need land. The few
things God has given me... I don't
need that to live. I live
without meddling with A or B.
But when you came...
because you were nice to me...
I was interested in the work.
But not about being part
of that revolutionary business.
And that's that.
But tell me, what do you
do for a living today?
I do my own thing.
I have no mill boss over me.
And I want nothing to do with them.
This is my life.
And were you a Protestant at the time?
Yes.
That is why I was
so disappointed at my church.
They kicked me out.
I was really heartbroken.
For that reason, I don't
want to go on with it.
I believe you're recording
everything I'm saying...
But you can see from my face
that I'm not, erm...
erm... so dedicated
to this movement.
How long have you been a Protestant?
It's been 28 years.
- The Baptist church?
- Yes, sir.
Once bitten, twice shy.
I was once disappointed.
Why would I be again?
What disappointed you?
The church wouldn't support
the movement.
And I don't want revolution.
I'm all about peace.
Everyone living their own lives.
That's how it is.
- And you also have a little shop, right?
- It's a waste of time!
You weren't harmed by being
in the film, were you?
No, not harmed.
Except by the mill owner.
During the revolution, he was after me
and tried to kill me.
Because of a case in 1963?
Because they compensated
me at the mill.
It was about that, not about the film.
No one came after me
because of the film.
I wasn't disappointed.
Only by the church.
But did you enjoy seeing
yourself in the film yesterday?
I did, yes. Because we enjoy
seeing the fruits of our labour,
and I could see it in the film.
I was very natural.
It was all very natural,
and not against A or B.
I was pleased with what I saw.
I saw the fruits of my labour.
Twenty days after João Pedro
was murdered,
Elizabeth Teixeira travelled south.
On May 5th, 1962,
in Brasília, she spoke to
the Parliamentary Commission
of Inquiry
on agrarian affairs.
I had to go to Rio de Janeiro
to testify at the Parliamentary
Commission of Inquiry.
When I arrived in Rio...
I went on to Brasília...
In Brasília the deputies
and the President
thought I should take
João Pedro's place.
Mostly to support my children
and for the League to grow
with my leadership.
Because I was the leader's widow.
I went on.
And I said I would take
his place even if I died.
I would risk my own life
and take his place.
So I took over... I was dedicated...
And in doing so,
I fought and protested against
João Pedro's murder.
And the murders of all
the other fallen comrades.
I was also arrested...
Not by one policeman,
or two, or three! No!
There were many and they
shot at my feet.
Shot at my feet...
Even so, I didn't stop
marching, but got into the car...
and I let them take me.
And when I got there,
they started asking me
a lot of stupid questions.
Asking me about abroad...
As if I knew anyone abroad!
This was most likely the last time
Elizabeth Teixeira was at a rally.
The rally took place in early 1964,
to celebrate the formation
of the Agricultural Workers' Union
in São Miguel do Taipu,
a town near Sapé.
Due to pressure from the
Land Workers' Movement,
the Federal Government
started encouraging
the creation of rural unionisation.
Two weeks after this rally,
a conflict near Sapé
prevented us from filming
"Man Marked for Death" in the area.
One month later, in February, 1964,
Elizabeth came to to Pernambuco,
in order to take part
in the filming in Galileia.
"Sapé for God and Democracy"
"Families March in Areia,
Piancó and Uraína"
"Guarabira Holds Family March
for God and Freedom"
"João Pessoa Marched Yesterday
for God and Freedom"
"March to Recife draws
200 Thousand People"
These were the last scenes we
shot for "Man Marked for Death"
on March 31st, 1964, at night.
João Pedro was gathering the labourers
to discuss the formation
of the Sapé League.
Only three shots were filmed.
The first one is when
Elizabeth serves them coffee.
The second one is when
she hears a noise outside
and goes to take a look.
The last one is when she comes
back frightened and says,
"There's someone outside!"
And then?
March 31st, huh? March 31st...
So, we were surrounded by the Army.
Not from Pernambuco,
but the Army from Paraíba.
No one knew any of the soldiers
that poured into the town.
They walked in.
Not by car.
They walked all the way.
They came pouring in!
There were soldiers everywhere!
Everybody started running
into the woods.
They were just looking
for three people.
João Virgínio, Zezé and Rosário.
They wanted those three.
And the film crew.
But they couldn't catch us.
Oh, yes, it was the film crew
they wanted most!
In which house did we shoot?
It was over there. Right there.
The house isn't there anymore,
because it was too old.
So, we tore it down
and built it elsewhere.
Zé Daniel's house was
João Pedro's in the film.
And it was also where
we kept our film equipment.
I went into the woods...
I went all the way up to the field...
and I shouted to Daniel's son,
"Duda! Hey, Duda!
Go tell everyone
"the troops are coming!
They'll be here in a minute!"
Duda was playing football, but
ran and delivered the message.
You ran away,
and I ran across the field.
I saw they weren't coming.
When I got there,
you were running uphill.
The film crew had already gone.
They were hiding in the woods
behind that hill.
The troops arrived,
and I could see from up there
that they had
three Army trucks.
It was around 8pm.
All I could hear was clattering
coming from inside the house.
The Army was ransacking the house.
Turning it upside down.
They turned the chairs upside
down, the table, the bed.
They took the mattresses
out of the bedroom...
They took the barrel,
the big barrel
that we used to store flour in,
and threw it through the kitchen door.
A pan of cassava we were
cooking for dinner...
and threw it outside and smashed it.
They destroyed our bags and cases...
my sister's suitcase...
They took the generator,
and the spotlights for the film.
They took all the machinery,
all the material sitting outside.
"Subversive Material Seized,
"guns belonging to the Armed Forces,
"films for indoctrinating the workers,
"lights for showing films at night,
"(the training was intensive
and long lasting)
have been seized by
the Army at the Galileia mill."
This front-page picture
from the "Diario de Pernambuco",
shows film stock, tripods,
lighting equipment and a megaphone.
Normal film equipment.
"It was in Galileia that the Army
"seized material from the largest
subversive communist group
"in rural Pernambuco, abandoned by
red leaders
"along with the women and children.
"In a typical peasant house,
we have found extensive material
"intended for spreading
subversive ideas
"by the international leftists
who were in the area,
"under the protection
"of the recently deposed
State government.
"Inside the house
was a powerful generator
"which was used for powering
"an expensive film projector.
"Among many others found,
the film taken
"the week of the coup,
"was 'Man Marked for Death'.
"The film taught the labourers
"to act in cold blood,
"with no sense of guilt of remorse
"when shooting was necessary
"or decapitation or other forms
of elimination
"inflicted on 'reactionaries'
captured in the field
"or taken to Galileia,
in the rural area of the State.
"At the same time,
a sociologist from Pernambuco,
"who wishes to remain anonymous,
"has started to draw up a plan
"that shall be put
into practice in Galileia,
"in order to provide rapid,
moral and social recovery
"of the sub-race
to which the communists
have tried to reduce
these peasants in Galileia."
Zé Daniel took us
to a hideout in the woods.
At night, the troops went back
to Vitória de Santo Antão.
At night, we were
together in the woods,
and later the children
arrived shouting,
"Dad! Oh, Dad! Dad! Daddy!"
I wanted -- I really
wanted to go to them.
"Don't go there, no."
I wanted to go.
"Come have some coffee!
They're already gone!"
Compadre Zé Feliciano said,
"Compadre Daniel, come to the house.
They're gone. Have some coffee!"
I wanted to go!
Why didn't you answer?
I didn't answer because
you were saying, "Don't go.
No. Don't go." But I wanted to...
We were worried the Army
might still be there.
They might have still been there.
Early in the morning, we left
the woods with Elizabeth
and said goodbye to the people.
We split into groups of three,
climbed the hill
and got onto the road
to Recife a few miles ahead.
Then each group took a different bus.
And all of us managed
to get to Recife.
Only later, did we find out
that five members of the crew
who had chosen to stay
in Vitória de Santo Antão,
had been arrested.
The Army went back to Galileia
shortly after we left.
On that day, April 13th,
Zé Daniel surrendered.
I gave myself up.
At first, I said to him,
"For the sake of the milk
"you suck from your mother's breast,
"for the love of Jesus Christ,
Our Lord and Saviour...
"if you see any reason to arrest
me or beat me,
or shoot me 2, 3 or 4 times,
or for as long as I can take it."
"So, you're afraid
of going to prison?"
"Yes, sir. I respect
man, woman, and child.
"So I can be respected too
as a poor old man.
I'm weak, thank God!
And the Devil is poor!"
I said, "I am a weak man,
but live by my respect.
"I want to die with honour!
I hear you wanted to see me.
"I want to die on my land.
"But not beaten in jail!
"If I am to be arrested or beaten,
I will die running across the
land, but I won't surrender!"
Then Sergeant Saraiva says
"Tell me where the guns are, Zé Daniel."
I say, "Besides the gun
you found in my house
"and the little shotgun
we use for hunting fowl to eat.
These are all the guns
we have in Galileia."
"No, Daniel. The machine guns."
"I've never seen one before!
"I see one now in your hands.
I wanted to see one,
but I never have."
With Zé Daniel's help,
we hid the film camera
in some sort of cave
in the middle of the woods.
The camera was the last
thing the Army found.
Under that rock there.
Come down.
Can you tell where it was?
Under that rock there.
What was under the rock?
The camera they filmed with
was under that rock.
He asked me,
and we came down the path.
I didn't want to say it. So I said,
"We'll see..."
I didn't want to say I knew!
But we came down the path.
I said, "I think they came down here,"
but I didn't say that
I had put it there.
- Where was it?
- Down the path. Then...
then, I spotted the camera and I said,
"Look! There it is!"
They picked the camera up,
and then they shouted,
"Come! Come tell them
I've found it!
João José, Zé Daniel's son,
was 20 years old at the time.
The only things I managed to keep
were two books left on the table.
The Army took everything else.
I keep my books inside this suitcase.
"The History of a Manuscript - Kaputt"
"Every morning I'd sit in the garden
"under an acacia tree,
"and start to work.
"Whenever... an SS soldier...
"arrived near... the hedge,
the peasant would give
a warning cough."
So, when the troops came,
the other would warn him.
And the Army wouldn't get him.
He'd escape.
The story of your film is like that.
"When I had to go to the front,
"I entrusted the manuscript of Kaputt
"to my friend Roman Suchena,
"who hid it in a hole
in the wall of the pigsty.
"I... will always be grateful
"to the peasant Roman Suchena
"and his young daughter-in-law
for helping me to save
my dangerous manuscript
from the hands of the Gestapo."
So, this book reminds you
of the film, right?
Yes. It's yours! One of you
left this book here.
Whose book is this?
I don't know.
It was on the table.
How many years have you had it?
For 17 years.
There's this one too.
It's got, Fernando Duarte
written in it.
I think he was that skinny one.
The cinematographer.
So, I said, "It probably
belongs to one of the film crew."
It's about films and things...
I kept them both.
The Army captain wanted
to take this one
because there's a story about the
World War in it and Russia or something.
I said, "No sir,
this book is mine."
He said, "It's the Cuban's!"
I said, "This book is mine."
Who were the Cubans?
You were.
They thought we were Cubans?
Yes! They thought you were Cubans
making a film back then in 1964.
Then I said, "No, sir,
there's no Cubans
or communists here."
"Tell me where the guns
and the Cubans are!
I know those Cubans wanted
to start a revolution here!"
I said, "No, they never said
anything about a revolution.
They never said anything
about Cuba."
"But how did they speak?
I said, "The same as everyone else"
"But did they have an accent?"
"Sure, but they spoke normal enough.
Cariocas have a different accent,
but they spoke normal."
And the other one says,
"They probably were Cariocas.
They probably were, because Cariocas
have an accent, don't they, Lieutenant?"
I said, "Yeah, they sounded normal."
"Did they talk to you? Did you
understand what they said?"
"Of course. Everything."
Then, he said, "All right, then!
Now you'll show me
where the guns are!"
I said, "There are only two farmers
who have those.
"One is a gentleman
from Bento Velho mill...
"and the other is Lourival Pedroso
from the Gameleira mill.
He has a lot of those!
He's a cangaceiro! A big farmer."
He said, "But those are his!
Those guns are his!
"Show me yours! Julião told me
you had 20,000 guns
"for you to start a revolution,
do you hear?
"And the communists were filming
here for the revolution.
Show me the guns!"
Then he got rough.
He started to get mad.
I said, "Colonel, there are
no Cubans or communists here.
"There are people who are
hungry, sick, suffering!
"I'm sick myself!
Do you hear me?
"People round here need
food and medicines,
freedom and land to work on!"
He said, "Hell, tomorrow I'll bring
some medicine.
"Tell everybody. Tell the people
who are hiding in the woods,
"to come see me, and I'll give
them medicine and talk to them.
Go get João Virgínio!"
I said, "I don't know
where João is."
I turned myself in.
I was hiding for seven days.
I couldn't go anywhere.
I had to turn myself in.
After I had spent...
eight days with the 4th Army...
on April 15th...
when Castelo Branco became President,
they took me to the Department
of Public Safety.
They wanted me to make a statement.
Before that, two police beat me up.
Two other leaders
from Galileia were arrested
in the first two weeks of April.
Zezé da Galileia was
released after three months.
Severino Gomes da Silva,
also known as Rosário,
old Zezé's foster son,
spent 45 days in prison.
I used to produce
on this land where I'm standing.
Half a truckload of produce
every week!
The Army took me and threw me in jail,
I was blinded in one eye.
I lost the hearing in one ear.
After another beating
my heart gave out.
I spent six years in prison.
What good was I to the nation
behind bars?
They took my watch,
a belt, and my money.
They took my jeep as well,
They took my jeep. It's behind City Hall
in Vitória, at the police station.
They never gave it back to me.
Call that a revolution?
Put me in jail,
my children left hungry?
They took my jeep.
They took my documents.
They took everything.
Why should the Army do this to me?
It would be better if they'd
shot me, instead of doing that.
I'm angrier than I was before.
They left my children to starve,
and me in jail,
beaten up and tortured.
I spent 24 hours
in a tank full of shit
and piss up to the waist!
There were turds this big!
The stench...!
It was a tiny space... and I was...
I'd spend an hour like this,
another hour like that,
another hour like this,
another hour like that.
I was standing for 24 hours.
Only the Devil could bear it!
Spending 24 hours
standing in a tank of shit.
Only Satan...
I can't believe I'm alive,
because I never thought a man like me
could take as many
electric shocks as I did!
But there's nothing better...
there's nothing better than days
with a night in between.
Our Lord Jesus Christ will protect us.
The grace of God is poured
upon us, hour after hour.
I trust in God,
because of this misery...
One day, people will have
to realise who they are.
We can't stay trampled down forever.
Condemned to
ten and a half years in prison,
João Virgínio was released in 1970
after serving six years
of his sentence.
Recife's House of Detention
was shut down
and became a Cultural Centre in 1976.
On April 3rd, 1964,
one week before
João Virgínio was arrested,
Elizabeth Teixeira fled Galileia
with the film crew
and travelled to Recife.
Unable to return to Sapé
or stay in Recife,
or she would be arrested,
she decided to hide
in Manuel Serafim's house,
in Jaboatão.
Our assistant director Vladimir
Carvalho, took her there.
Elizabeth changed her name to Marta,
pretended to be
Manuel Serafim's sister-in-law,
and never left the house.
Two months later,
she turned herself in
to the authorities in Paraíba.
Did they treat you well?
Yes. The Army treated me well.
Did they ask you about Cuba?
They did.
And what did you say?
I said I went to visit my son there.
He had received a scholarship,
from the Cuban government,
and they had sent me an invitation...
to visit my son.
And this is why I was in Cuba.
Did they accuse you
of leading land occupations?
They did.
I wasn't leading any occupations.
People occupied land
because there were clashes
between the owner and tenant.
No owner wants the tenant
to have any rights.
He wants him bound and gagged.
So the tenant has to take
matters into their own hands.
After four months in prison,
Elizabeth was released,
and went back to Sapé.
Fearing for her safety, she went
back to her father's house,
where her children
had already been taken.
Then, the police
started to persecute me.
The police came to get me again.
- This was at your father's house?
- At Dad's house.
Then, the police came back to take me.
They wanted to take me back
to their headquarters,
where I could be tortured
or even killed.
So, I thought about it a lot,
and I turned to my dad.
I said, "Dad I can't go
with so many policemen.
"Since they're saying
they're friends of yours,
"make them go away
and tell them
I'll turn myself in tomorrow."
I was sick.
Dad spoke to Colonel Luís de Barros...
and said I couldn't go.
He guaranteed I'd go
there the next day.
So they took his word for it
that I would go the next day.
The next day I couldn't do it.
I took the car and told Dad
that I was going to see them,
but I couldn't do it. I knew
I'd be tortured,
or even killed,
like Alfredo and the boy.
In September, 1964,
shortly after Elizabeth's release,
João Alfredo Dias,
also known as Nêgo Fuba,
and Pedro Inácio de Araújo,
also known as Pedro Fazendeiro,
founders of the Sapé League,
vanished after leaving prison.
They were never found.
Three days later the newspaper said
two mutilated corpses had been found
by a roadside in Paraíba.
According to the newspaper,
they were two criminals
who'd been killed by the Death Squad.
The bodies were never identified.
Did your father
help you all this time?
No. I don't even know
if they're still alive.
I don't know if they're still alive.
Why didn't he help you?
I really don't know. I don't know.
It's better not to know.
Didn't he help to bring up the children?
He did.
- He raised two of my brothers.
- He raised two of them?
We still don't know where they are.
- But will you try to now?
- Exactly.
From now on we tell everything.
Makes things easier. I want to
try and find the rest of the family.
You'll try?
Why did you choose to keep
Carlos especially?
Well, you see...
Dad didn't want to keep him,
because he found him
too much like João Pedro.
He said he wouldn't have him.
Is he like him?
Yes, he is.
In 1962, the persecution
wasn't limited
to João Pedro and Elizabeth.
Three months after
João Pedro's murder,
Paulo Pedro, one of his children,
was mysteriously attacked.
What happened to Paulo?
What was the attack about?
The attack...?
It was one of the thugs
who worked for the estate owner.
The same ones who killed João Pedro.
- What did they do?
- They shot him.
- They shot him?
- In the forehead. Out in the fields.
- Was he badly hurt?
- He was.
I don't know if he's still alive.
- You never saw him again?
- No, never.
- You don't know where he is?
- No, I don't. I haven't heard any news.
What about your daughter, Marluce?
What happened to her?
Marluce took poison and died.
Was it because of her father's death?
Yes. She said that
after her father was killed,
she hadn't had a single
day of happiness.
Not even for a day.
The girl was always upset.
She said she always felt that pain...
and it got to that awful point.
In December, 1962, eight months
after João Pedro's death,
Marluce Teixeira, the eldest daughter,
committed suicide
by arsenic poisoning.
"Young Woman Commits Suicide
with Strong Dose of Arsenic"
"Marluce was the daughter
of the late João Pedro Teixeira.
She was 18 years old."
When did you meet your first brother?
I met him in 1978.
In 1978, I went there and --
- Where?
- To Patos, trying to look for him.
- Abraão?
- Abraão.
- You don't know the other eight?
- No, I don't know any of them.
- How are you know here?
- Marta Maria da Costa.
Even legally.
Marta Maria da Costa.
Why did you choose "Marta"?
Because it sounded like martyr...
The name of someone who had suffered.
And that suited me.
But after this film, you'll go back
into the world, won't you?
I will. I'll go back out into
the world again.
The neighbours,
everyone knows who I am...
that I'm in Rio Grande do Norte...
Now I'll get back in touch
with my old friends...
Find my children, my parents...
Will you visit your parents?
Yes! Mostly because my children
are somewhere out there!
I know my children are there,
and I must find them, right?
How could I not?
In the first week of April, 1964,
eight of Elizabeth's
children were shared out
among grandparents and aunts.
Abraão stayed in the capital,
where he was studying.
Isaac went to Cuba in 1963
with a scholarship
from the Cuban government.
15 days after my meeting with
Elizabeth,
I went to Sapé to try
to retrace the past.
A few miles from the town
next to where João Pedro was murdered,
a stone monument with an iron
cross and a bronze plaque,
built in his memory,
was blown up in early April, 1964.
The bronze plaque said,
"Here lies João Pedro Teixeira,
martyr for agrarian reform."
In fact, João Pedro's body
is buried in the Sapé cemetery,
in an unmarked grave.
João Pedro was born
in a nearby town, Guarabira,
and his father died
when he was very young.
Little is known about his youth.
There are no pictures
of João Pedro alive.
The house where
João Pedro lived his last days
looks deserted.
After the founding of the Sapé League,
Elizabeth's father,
Manuel Justino da Costa,
a small landowner,
had a quarrel with João Pedro
and sold his farm to a businessman.
Threatened with eviction,
João Pedro fought a legal battle...
for the right to live there,
or receive compensation
for the repairs and crops.
After his death, Elizabeth
was allowed to keep the farm,
but stopped talking to her father.
In 1981, 17 years
after Elizabeth's escape,
her children didn't know
where she was hiding,
let alone whether
she was dead or alive.
Not far from João Pedro's house
we looked for his daughter,
Maria das Neves Altina Teixeira,
also known as Nevinha.
We only knew she was married
and she taught local children
less than 600 yards from where
João Pedro was murdered.
How long is it since you
saw your mother?
Erm... a long time.
15... maybe 12 years.
And do you miss her?
Of course I do.
She's my mum.
What about your brothers,
Abraão and Carlos?
We haven't seen either of them.
The others are nearer.
Did you know your father, João Pedro?
I did! I was six or seven
years old when he died.
- Do you remember him?
- Not very well.
- Is this your daughter?
- Yes.
What's her name?
Juliana Elizabeth
Teixeira do Nascimento.
She has "Elizabeth" in her name.
Yes. Juliana Elizabeth.
- Why, Elizabeth?
- It's my mother's name.
And where can we meet
Peta, your brother?
Peta? At my grandfather's, by the
flour house. Do you know where that is?
If we go there,
would your grandfather let us in?
Well, my grandfather's a
bit funny about that sort of thing.
The other day...
some people came by in a car.
I don't know if they were
cattle rustlers, you know?
All I know is, that they came by
every day, every week.
He was quite...
many people round here thought...
He didn't... the family
didn't think that...
But people started saying,
"It may be Elizabeth
trying to kill you."
A lot of people thought so.
Then he got it into his head.
He's old.
He thought she was trying
to kill him, steal from him.
But they came...
I think they were cattle rustlers.
Manoel Justino and João Pedro
Teixeira Jr, known as Peta,
agreed to be filmed.
But Elizabeth's father
soon changed his mind
and went into the house.
Your grandfather raised you?
Since I was a little boy.
My mother went away.
He brought the whole family here.
Then an uncle came and took one of us,
and another agreed to take another.
Everybody in the family
helped raise us.
If it weren't for them,
we would have died.
Because 12 children
in one house... starving...
If it hadn't been for the family...?
Everybody took someone,
and three of us stayed at home.
I'm still here, and the two
girls went off to Rio.
But we're alive, thanks to the family.
If it weren't for them...
But even so, I don't hate my mum.
I want to see her, whenever she comes.
I'll go wherever she might be.
Do you have a picture of your father?
I don't. Nor of my mother.
I don't remember anything.
I was four years old.
Four years old...
You were two years old
when your father died.
No. I was four years old.
I was born in 1960.
They killed him in 1964.
No. He died in 1962.
He died... I thought
it was in 1964.
I was little. I don't remember.
I hear people talk.
You rebuilt your father's memorial?
I have. I made him a new cross.
Because they destroyed it, right?
I'm the only one here...
I thought I'll do it for him,
as his son. That's what I should do.
Because they can't do it.
I can make another one.
I said I would make it because
I wanted to remember him.
I knew where he died.
My family told me where it was.
So I made a new one.
And I lit a candle and all that.
Why didn't Manoel want
to have his picture taken?
Because he's 84 years old.
He doesn't think
like young people like us.
Eventually, we persuaded,
Manoel Justino
to come out and talk to us.
You never got on with João Pedro,
did you?
No.
I didn't ask him.
But he came here.
I gave him some advice,
but he wouldn't listen...
- And you never got on with him?
- Never.
But he was a good husband, wasn't he?
Yes...
In the end, he became my enemy.
He said that if I ever went...
if I ever set foot on his land
there would be trouble.
- Who said that?
- He did! Her husband.
- João Pedro?
- Yes.
He said I'd better not meddle.
I'd better get back to work.
Thank you! See you later!
Throughout the conversation,
Elizabeth's father never
once said João Pedro's name.
Still a working man at 84,
Manoel Justino has a small flour mill,
and goes out every day
to buy wood and cassavas
from nearby farms.
João Pedro Teixeira Jr helps by
driving his grandfather around.
Not far from here,
on Manoel Justino's land,
João Pedro was murdered.
Back in the League, Elizabeth
marched down this road,
leading peasant demonstrations
to her husband's memorial.
Caxias, Baixada Fluminense,
in Rio de Janeiro State.
October, 1981.
Eight months after
filming with Elizabeth.
Please, is Marta in?
I'm Marta.
I'm a friend of your --
My mother's.
- So, you've heard?
- Kind of...
This is her picture.
Is there any light in here?
This is her...
This is your brother, Carlos.
Do you remember him?
I do.
This is in Rio Grande do Norte.
We went to see her there.
Here she is washing
her clothes in the river.
This is her...
She sends you a big hug.
She's coming to see you.
She's probably gone to look for
your brothers. Take a look!
Carlos as well...
- Abraão, Carlos.
- Uh-huh!
And this is your mum.
Yeah, I remember her well.
This is when we were filming her.
When did you come to Rio?
I came to Rio in 1971.
- 1971?
- Yeah...!
And you never went back?
I was there... I think
it was five years ago.
And are you in touch
with any of the people in Sapé?
No! No, no...
- Don't they write?
- I'm the one who --
You won't say where you are?
I cut myself off.
Why?
You see, the family...
when you most need them --
They never helped you...?
That's when they didn't help.
Especially my brothers.
I don't hold a grudge against them.
I don't, but...
when I needed them the most...
they weren't there for me.
Especially my mother's parents.
- They didn't help you?
- No.
They have some money, don't they?
Yeah, my family does,
except my mother.
But you don't hold a grudge
against your mum, do you?
No, I don't.
Despite her having handed
me over to my grandma...
Despite all that, I don't
hold a grudge against her.
Why did she hand you over
to your grandma?
I don't know. I really don't.
There's twelve of us, right?
Twelve of us... twelve of us and
I'm the only one she gave away.
I wasn't even...
Do you remember
your father, João Pedro?
I do... I do...
He was...
I adored him.
Not just because he was killed.
I adore my mother too.
I bear no grudges, really.
God forbid! Never!
I love her! Whenever she
comes, I'll be glad to see her.
But after this film, you'll go back
into the world, won't you?
I will. I'll go back out into
the world again.
The neighbours,
everyone knows who I am...
that I'm in Rio Grande do Norte...
Now I'll get back in touch
with my old friends...
Find my children, my parents...
Will you visit your parents?
Yes! Mostly because my children
are somewhere out there!
I know my children are there,
and I must find them, right?
- And the neighbours didn't know?
- They knew nothing!
Dad thinks I'm either dead or abroad!
- You came here to work?
- I did.
- Where did you work?
- I worked in...
I forget the street,
but it's here in Caxias.
I was already pregnant
with my eldest son.
My firstborn's now 10.
- You came here with him?
- I was pregnant.
- He was born here?
- He was...
I was well off at the beginning.
It was good.
I had a car, jewellery, everything...
Then, the man I was living with...
Actually you met him.
Manuel Alves...
at Rua Felizardo Forte, number 66.
I lived with him...
for around 10 years.
I have three children by him.
Then, he did some awful things,
and we couldn't go on.
So, we separated and I moved here.
I had nothing. Nothing!
But it doesn't matter.
- And the children?
- I have four children.
Santa Clara School of Medicine,
provincial capital
of Las Villas in Cuba.
December, 1981.
Isaac Teixeira is in his
fifth year of medical studies.
Film shot at our request
by a Cuban film crew.
What I remember about
Brazil and my dad's struggle...
is that it was almost two decades ago.
Back then...
he started to organise
the peasant leagues in Brazil.
And my father...
was committed...
to his work in the Northeast of Brazil
where he founded...
and worked for the Sapé League.
I think he was a pioneer
of the peasant leagues.
And it had great repercussions, right?
After his struggle and his death...
Everyone...
admired him...
for being a peasant, a humble man,
dedicating his whole life...
to the struggle
of the Brazilian people.
Take two!
Please, José Eudes.
- What?
- José Eudes.
- Eudes?
- Do you know him?
- I do, yes!
- Can you go get him?
Sure! Please come with me.
- He's the watchman here, right?
- What?!
- Is he a watchman?
- Yeah!
What channel are you?
TVE or Globo?
No, it's a film. It's a report,
but for a film.
By Avenida Brasil, Rio de Janeiro.
We're entering the warehouse
of an engineering company.
May, 1982,
one year and three months
after filming with Elizabeth.
- Who's Mr. Coutinho?
- I am, I am!
You may come in,
but I only want to talk to you.
Nice to meet you, José Eudes.
He's coming in by himself.
Excuse me.
I want to talk to him in private.
Excuse me, sir.
Please take this.
After a long talk and a few demands,
José Eudes Teixeira
agreed to let us film him.
But it should be outside.
Do you remember
your mother and father?
No. No.
Who raised you?
An uncle, who I call Dad.
His name is Eudes.
He's my uncle, but I call him Dad.
You were four years old
when your father died, right?
- Exactly!
- And you don't remember it?
I don't! I honestly
can't remember him at all.
But you remember your mother!
You were six in 1964, right?
No. I can't
remember her either.
I only know her from these photos
you showed me. I didn't recognise her.
I didn't have a picture of her.
- Would you like to see her?
- I would! Very much!
I even cried when
I got her first letter.
I couldn't remember her.
I called the aunt who raised me, Mum.
And I actually, I still
see her as my mum.
When they killed my father
and my mother had to disappear,
or else they'd kill her too,
we weren't even baptised.
So my godparents raised me
and had me baptised.
I don't know four of my brothers.
Paulo, Abraão...
Isaac and... Carlos.
I don't know Carlos either.
- You don't know Paulo?
- No.
Why not? Paulo --
When I was there, he went
to Nazaré da Mata with my uncle.
So, I never knew him either.
What does he do now?
He works as a driver
for some company...
And he's married...
Actually, my brother has seen him.
He said he's very angry
about the whole family situation.
He said he drinks a lot.
He's very angry...
me too...
I used to live with a woman...
She said, "You're different
from other people."
Because I am...
Sometimes I don't talk
to anyone, I feel angry...
when I think about
my family's history, you know?
Olaria, Rio de Janeiro.
Film shot on the same day
as the interview with José Eudes.
May, 1982.
Excuse me, does Marinês live here?
Yeah. I don't know if she's in.
You don't?
Could you have a look for me, please?
What a pity...
The window's closed.
- There's so many people!
- Come! It's no big deal!
- How are you?
- This is my son.
- I'm fine!
- How cute! What's his name?
It's Rodrigo... and Elana.
- Are they both yours?
- Yeah, my two children.
How long have you been living in Rio?
It's been seven years.
- Seven years?
- Uh-huh!
Why did you come?
Why did you move?
- Marta sent for me.
- She did? Right!
I was living with an uncle.
She sent for me.
- Do you remember your mum?
- No, I've never seen her.
I've only seen her in a photo
Marta sent me.
- Don't you remember your father?
- No, I never saw him.
- You were eight months old...?
- Three months!
Do you want to see her?
I do! I do...
- Or do you feel hurt?
- Hurt? No.
Not at all.
Did she write to you?
Yes, she has written twice.
- What do they say?
- This is the first one.
Would you read a little bit?
"You say you don't know
where you come from.
"You come from our flesh,
"from the love
between your father and me.
Of course, I'm so glad you're coming."
I asked her if I could see her.
"That's what I want, to meet...
"meet all my children
and be with you all.
"Thanks to the political
situation opening up,
"I'll be able to see
all my children again.
"I wasn't able to live with you,
raise you, and love you,
"but since fate got in the way,
it must be God's will.
"But I would be overjoyed...
"if I could spend at least
one day together with all my children,
so that we can put
this separation behind us."
The filming we did in São Rafael,
in February, 1981,
ended many years of hiding
for Elizabeth Teixeira.
After she was filmed,
she was no longer Marta,
but became Elizabeth again.
You take in washing, Elizabeth?
Yes.
And what else do you do
to make a living?
I wash dishes at a bar...
I also teach the children.
- 4 x 1?
- 4!
- 4 x 2?
- 8!
- 4 x 3?
- 12!
- 4 x 4?
- 16!
- 4 x 5?
- 20!
- 4 x 6?
- 24!
- 4 x 7?
- 28!
- 4 x 8?
- 32!
My neighbours knew nothing.
And how did they react
when they learned who you were?
They looked for pictures of me...
tried to find out who I was,
where I came from.
I told them I used to live in Recife,
where I worked as a maid,
but it didn't work out.
That I moved with my son...
and that I ended up here.
That's what I told them.
Are they glad
to know you're Elizabeth?
They are!
Did you enjoy the film about Elizabeth?
It's very important because...
Marta... I mean, Elizabeth,
had such a tragic past.
Many things were really very sad.
Now you know, has she changed?
She's the same old Elizabeth...
She's the same friend!
Who else wants to speak?
When she arrived in São Rafael,
I was her first neighbour.
We've always been great friends.
My Zorro was her first pupil.
She's a great person.
She's like a mother to me.
And did you think
she only had one child?
- What did you know about her?
- Nothing, when she arrived.
Where did you think she came from?
- From Jucurutu.
- She'd come from Jucurutu.
- And she only had one child?
- Yes, I did.
Are they all your friends?
Yes. All good friends.
She was my neighbour.
We shared a backyard.
We felt for her and her suffering.
and we could tell
she was very sad on the inside,
but she never said a thing.
All she said was that
her husband had been murdered,
and that she had other children,
but she couldn't see them.
We knew she was deeply heartbroken.
We wish her every happiness,
because she's such a great person.
We will miss her a lot.
"São Rafael Rural Workers' Union"
He's the President of the Union.
We talked a lot...
about the Union,
about how it's going...
now, today.
We also talked about...
the people in Vale do Açu.
How they'll be compensated...
when they have to move
from Vale do Açu...
As President of the Union,
he knows the situation
a whole lot better.
São Rafael is a dying town.
The National Department
Against Drought,
is developing a new irrigation project,
which requires building a massive dam.
The water will flood
the entire municipality.
Since they don't have property
deeds for their land,
the small landowners of São Rafael
are not being fairly compensated,
according to them.
The local union is leading the fight,
pushing for better compensations.
And is Elizabeth helping you?
She advises me because she tells me
what she's suffered...
And I tell her
what I've been going through.
We talk about it a lot.
Did you already know she was
Elizabeth, instead of Marta?
Yes, I knew.
- How long have you known?
- Maybe a year.
Since we got to know each
other better.
- Did you know who João Pedro Teixeira was?
- Certainly.
- Who was he?
- He was a great leader!
- Where from?
- From Paraíba. From Sapé.
When she told me
what she'd been through,
and since I could relate to that,
I understood that her suffering
is the suffering of all
union leaders like ourselves
who are persecuted
by the landowners...
and authorities in Brazil.
Elizabeth, let's go outside
and say goodbye.
We have to pack our things
and our equipment. Shall we?
I thought I would
never see you again...
and the other comrades.
But now... I see my house...
old comrades come to see me.
So, for me, it's a big deal.
A big deal.
I never gave in,
I never gave up the fight...
What I did was the only way.
But now we are very
thankful to our President...
for having given us the honour
to be able to
talk to people, give speeches,
get in touch with
our children, our parents...
and all our relatives.
You really caught me close to tears.
You know...
I was really moved.
It was 16 years... Abraão hadn't
been here. He never had the chance.
The fact that he could come...
And you came.
I was very moved.
I never expected it.
He called me and said he was coming.
The girl picked up the phone,
and said he was coming
with Carlos and another brother.
Then, when he got here
I said, "Is Carlos here?"
"No, Mum. Coutinho is coming
to make a film."
I said, "Oh, my!
What's going on?"
I was... really moved.
- Was the report good?
- It was! It was great!
It would've been better
if I could have helped you.
When you got here,
I was very emotional.
See you soon, Elizabeth.
Are you really going?
- Yes, we must be going.
- I hope everything was OK.
The fight goes on!
We have the same demands
as we did in 1964!
They haven't moved an inch.
The same demands...
for the workers,
for the peasants, and for students.
The fight goes on.
As long as there's hunger and
poor wages, we have to fight!
How can we not fight for better days?
You must fight!
Whoever has a good
life, let them stay out of it!
I have suffered.
I have to fight!
The regime must be changed.
We all must fight
while this "so-called democracy",
this hunger exists.
Democracy without freedom...
Democracy without hunger and misery?
While workmen's sons have no
right to study.
Like now, when I...
when the kids pay I don't know what.
This won't do!
A month later Elizabeth
Teixeira left São Rafael
and moved to Patos, Paraíba,
with her sons Abraão and Carlos.
Up until June, 1983,
when this text was written,
Elizabeth had only managed to see
two of her other eight children:
Nevinha and Peta, both in Sapé.
We last filmed João
Virgínio at his home,
on Carnival Sunday, in 1981.
Ten months later,
João Virgínio died of a heart
attack in the same place.
He was buried in the cemetery
at Vitória de Santo Antão,
next to Zezé da Galileia.