Yndio do Brasil is a collage of hundreds of Brazilian films and films from other countries – features, newsreels and documentaries – that show how the film industry has seen and heard Brazilian Indians, since they were filmed in 1912 for the first time. The surprising images are surrounded by music and poetry that inaugurate the viewers in the universe of Brazilian Indians, that is alternately idealised and prejudiced, religious and militaristic, cruel and magic. The director presents this rich film under the motto of the documentary-maker Richard Leacock: ‘The only good Indian is a filmed Indian’. Sylvio Back: ‘The film archives in Brazil are a treasure chest of material that can help us find out more about our existence. By discovering more and more about history, we are able to see the judgements and prejudices about our country in a different light.’ Most of the films came from the archives of the Brazilian Cinemathèque, the Cinemathèque of the Museum for Modern Art (Rio de Janeiro), the Indian museum and the National Archive.
