Chão

With an introduction by Thaís Omine

Avó and PC dream for a piece of land where they can apply healthier, ecologically conscious agricultural practices and improve their working conditions. In Chão, these dreams connect with the struggle of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra in Portuguese) and their attempts to occupy land owned by large industrial agricultural complexes. The MST, a grassroots organisation in Brazil with one and a half million members, actively occupies large swathes of territory to advocate for a land reform that allocates land to agricultural workers committed to ecological and ethical agriculture. Freitas' documentary reinstates the need for massive collective social efforts to achieve land reforms that acknowledge the intersection of land ownership and use with social justice by documenting a local struggle in Goias, Brazil over a period of four years. (GR)