Norbert Shuchanek and Marcia Gomes de Oliveira organized in May the biggest festival on the world of uranium, in Rio de Janeiro, with Portuguese subtitles. An extensive exhibition of film that addresses the issue of nuclear power and its devastating effects on the life in our planet. Recently, the two activists were in the town of Nisa, Alentejo, to film a documentary about the widespread popular discontent and opposition, given the possibility of resumption of uranium mining. A testimony who they find it important to spread to the world and which has its premiere on the extent of the festival in Lisbon in February.
How this idea of filming a documentary in Portugal about Nisa takes place?
Marcia Gomes de Oliveira: The film is based on the draft of the uranium film festival within the same subject. We visited Nisa and we were aware of a history that there was a place in Portugal that was a fighting against mining. In Brazil, we have developed our work in order to know places in the world with concerns about the nuclear problem. When looking for information about the risks of a disaster, we realize that in the Portuguese speaking world, this information is small or almost nonexistent. What struck us knew that there was a small town in Alentejo with people aware of what is mining, the danger it represents. This led us to Nisa to make the documentary. Above all, it was important because it is a movement in a Portuguese speaking country, because here in Brazil our largest investment is to know where they are trained on this subject.
But how this information came to you? Of Nisa?
MGO: This is very interesting because this was the first question I hear when I got to Nisa. How? It's funny that you invented Brazil and then we found you, is different, and is just details (laughs). We were already researching the topic, we had made a documentary near the nuclear power plant we have here, in Rio de Janeiro. We were organizing all the information and in this location came across a scientific paper, I do not remember if it is a master's thesis or doctoral done by a Brazilian and spoke there in the middle of Nisa, a local mining and prospecting. At first I went looking for a map of Brazil, is it in the Northeast? Then we discovered it was in Portugal, the Alentejo. In Brazil, we have a great affection for your country, because it is the navel, the birth of all the Portuguese culture. Then I said we need to know this place and this story and what is happening. We arrived at Nisa and made a contact, not very detailed, with some of the people of the movement, Maria José Moura, Maria Vieira and others who welcomed us and we saw that it was a place that has changed and more importantly, is a preventive movement. That's what moved us and encouraged to make the film. It is very common to act after, especially the Brazilians using a typical expression "crying after the spilled milk." Nisa thought: we do not want something to happen that will hurt us, not after the disaster occurs. So this is the value of the film. It is to show to Brazil to the world, a preemptive move. That's what I find most exciting and most precious.
The film will be shown in Brazil in the second film festival of uranium?
MGO: The first festival took place in May 201, why? We were in Nisa; we recorded and then saved the material to create a movie. We are now editing the images. We will not debut in Brazil. We show it on Lisbon in February, will actually be displayed in Portugal before the second edition of the festival in Rio de Janeiro. In Brazil, uranium shows the movies and then we have an extension of the festival in various cities. In December there was an event in Porto and in February the films shown were from the first edition. But let us take the opportunity to premiere the documentary, before the second festival in Brazil, because as we are the organizers, the film does not enter into our competition.
Tell me a little bit now about the festival, where comes this idea of creating a festival on uranium?
MGO: It's interesting, because it happens before the disaster Fukujima. In 2006 Norbert Shuchanek was in an international meeting on indigenous peoples affected by uranium mining, or radioactive deposits. There is already a worldwide organization that brings people together because of nuclear power. In that event, he saw a few movies and brought them and then he had already with this idea. When I saw them and was a determinant, the film of a nurse in Chernobyl with the tears streaming down her face as she showed radioactivity in the body of children and it was recently, and she said this cannot happen ever again, anywhere in the world. When I saw it, I said: everyone has to see it and be touched, not to be repeat ever. It was a Russian film, folded in English, but not enough for us Portuguese. I am a professor of sociology, working with adolescents, working with the future engineer, the future technicians and these people do not receive this information, just walk behind a job that pays good wages. What will they do, it does not matter. That was in 2006. We needed to show these films, because a book or a lecture is not as effective as the image in the world today. This effectively reaches teenagers, adults and senior citizen. The film has an impact of the audiovisual media of the moment. The work is to organize these films, people subscribe, send their work, we have a database with all audiovisual information and most important is to be subtitled in Portuguese. The festival has the power to be able to view the best work done on the subject in the world, and they are in Portuguese to be attainable for us. Our work in Nisa, and the extent that we develop with Eloy Antonio was important to take the Lusophony world, the information that is uranium. We intend to popularize the word, because lately we read the newspaper, that talk about uranium mining, uranium market price and people have no idea what it is. All risks will have on our lives. This does not generate popular movement.
What was the public reaction after watching these movies?
MGO: Each film had an impact. There was open to school sessions. Generally, people leave without words. Each one is a scandal, people leave very quiet after a while begin to say how is this possible? I did not know. This is the effect of the festival.
The festival of uranium in 2012, what it will be like?
AMS: We are still in the inscriptions period, already have many films from Australia, Germany and the USA. We received a great surprise of a Portuguese inscription, the film hasn't arrived yet. This year I realize the impact of Fukujima. People were sleeping on the subject, unfortunately. So that is why Nisa is an example, do something before it happens. Submissions were open before the disaster in Japan was on March 11 and the news still took a week to arrive, I received tit thru Portugal, we're very connected. It's funny that movies we had on competition about Japan, just two documentaries were related to Hiroshima and Nagasaki made by Americans. After the disaster we began to receive works of Japanese who wanted to show what happened to them at the festival. We had at the time entries closed, opened an exception and displayed a Japanese film.
The festival is a competitive show, but also has an educational component. The event encourages people to compete, but if we have a Japanese film from extreme circumstances that I can show without subtitles in 2011, I show it. This year will be displayed and it will be subtitled, because I have an education proposal. In this edition, we have marginal films for schools to watch, the ones with a more complex approach will be displayed at the end of the afternoon to an adult audience. We'll see how young people responded to the earthquake and how they reacted the past few days after Fukujima. They talked about it in social networks, how they lived before 2011 and you have to bring that experience to movies. I do not know how it is in Portugal, but here we saw flashes of the nuclear disaster mixed with the earthquake. What are they thinking, those Japanese? How they felt? How to process this information? So we're inviting these young people, these groups for the festival. I believe that is differential in 2012.
There are discussions after the screenings?
MGO: Each film has generated a debate. Our idea is that people can talk and talk about each one of the documentaries. We have no time for a period of debate, because we are getting too many films, and the space is almost running out. (Laughs) The festival will be displayed in a wonderful space that is part of the modern art museum, in front of the Guanabara Bay. We achieved this space, this area enjoyable. Everyone comes out generating debate among themselves. I am a teacher at a technical audiovisual school and I'm organizing with students from one school to cover, some natural images on this debate. Let's make a record of the opinions people have about the film and this may make a documentary. The festival is very rich, has lots of movies, and people get tired and the debate ends up happening in cafes and restaurants.
How you and Norbert did reached this issue?
MGO: Norbert is an environmental journalist and I did a thesis on the Guarani tribe, which is an indigenous people of the Atlantic forest and the plants in Rio de Janeiro are on their traditional territory. We have a 20-minute film, which shows how the chief of these people, with 94 years old, sees this plant. So, within a wide broad of environmental issues, by circumstance of my academic work on the Guarani people and indigenous peoples affected by radioactivity. They all suffer from the industrialization of the entire area of southern and southeastern of Brazil, they endure the impacts of all forms the plant is just one more. The most interesting is that nuclear power is invisible, is not immediate. It's a sewer in a polluted river, then, what else moves us into this work is that uranium puts an end to life on the planet, the Guarani, their chief are a few more Indians have this understanding. The perception that a nuclear disaster would be fatal to all.
http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org/
