Leonardo Sette and Isabel Penoli Directors of "Porcos rabiosos"

Leonardo Sette and Isabel Penoli, you are the directors of the short film “Porcos Rabiosos”. How did you come across this subject? LS: The women in the movie are part of the Cuicuro tribe, in the heart of the Amazonas Jungle. Isabel and I both got in touch of them because of other projects. They preserve a lot of their traditions, their ceremonies and their language. Nevertheless they are really open to their surroundings. They manage to have a perfect mixture of both worlds and are very interested to use media productions. So they actually offered the project to us.

NM: But initially it was supposed to be a Theater production? IP: Yes, first we wanted to turn the pigs’ tale into a theater piece and then just film actual performance. But both of us very soon started to realize that we should actually make a real film out of it, a different project. Still the movie keeps a lot of the original dramaturgical aspects.

How about the costumes? Are those authentic? LS: Yes, those are their traditional clothes. Some of them wear them in daily life, some other are wearing ordinary dresses. As I said, things are very varied in this community. But in front of everybody on the stage they felt more uncomfortable to be completely naked. So for the film it was really good to have this covered, isolated area where they wouldn’t be bothered.

So were the women really acting or just showing you their traditional dance? LS: Oh they were acting, absolutely. We had many rehearsals. IP: Even though they would usually be considered non-professional actors they have a strong ceremony culture and thus are used to performances and dances. It was really fascinating to work with them, for both of us.

by Franziska Knupper