Narradores de Javé

Confronted with a decision to build a dam that will flood their land, the inhabitants of a village in the Javé Valley have to think of something. But their village does not have any striking characteristics or important historical features. In order to find an argument to preserve their heritage, the inhabitants decide to tell all the stories and legends they can remember. The only one of them who can write is the postman, who was discredited because he delivered letters he concocted himself. While he starts putting together a dossier, he encourages the fantasies of the narrators and a fierce poetic battle soon develops among the villagers. History has to be recorded, but the question remains: whose history- Javé Valley is a Brazilian ode to the imagination and the art of telling stories. Eliane Caffé (whose début Kenoma was screened in Rotterdam in 1999) finds her own niche in the inventive Latin American narrative tradition. Her pleasure in imagination – and that of the actors – is clearly revealed in the film. At the same time, The Storytellers can be seen, and has to be regarded, as an exposé about needs, interests, political games and decision-making processes. The question of whose story should be heard is also relevant outside the Javé Valley.