By Ashna Balroop
The University of Maryland’s School of Languages, Literature and Culture (SLLC) celebrated Brazil’s independence from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 through artwork and a screening of “We Are Guardians.”
The celebration included an exhibition of student artwork at the entrance of Jimenez Hall. The film, directed by Edivan Guajajara, Rob Grobman and Chelsea Greene, depicts the story of indigenous guardians protecting the Amazon from deforestation. It shows the varying perspectives between these guardians and the loggers who illegally deforest the land. The film places the blame on the logging industry and shows how its corruption has impacted the native lands.
Nancy Loy, a part-time student learning Portuguese at UMD, said she was impressed by the film.
“I wanted to learn more about the cause, and I was particularly interested in what we could do,” Loy said. “Blaming a corporation is pretty futile, so what can I do?”
The film, while touching on the dexterity of the situation in Brazil, provided the audience with a sense of optimism for the future.
“The scale of the devastation in Brazil, seeing it visually is very different from reading about it,” Loy said. “It wasn’t given up because it was hopeless, and it wasn’t that we were victims. It’s where we can empower.”
A short question and answer session with directors Greene and Guajajara followed the movie.
Greene encouraged attendees to visit the “We Are Guardians” film website and take action by divesting from credit cards and banks involved in deforestation and signing a petition.
Professor Barbara Zocal Da Silva, an assistant clinical professor of Spanish and Portuguese, conceptualized Brazil Week three semesters ago. To Zocal Da Silva, the event serves as a way to reinforce student learning.
“It’s really important to me to create an event that has a connection with what the students are learning in the particular semester,” Zocal Da Silva said. “This year, the topic is forest protectors.”
Students enrolled in PORT103: Intensive Elementary Portuguese created Brazilian activist profiles for the exhibit.
“They were able to use physical descriptions, personality descriptions, professions, basic words, and verbs in Portuguese,” Zocal Da Silva said.
Students read the 2020 book “A vida não é útil” by Aílton Krenak, translated as “Life Is Not Useful” in PORT205: Intermediate Reading and Conversation in Portuguese I.
The book is a reflection on humanity’s relationship with nature, particularly through Indigenous perspectives. Students picked their favorite quote from the book to include in the exhibit.
Zocal Da Silva said she was extremely pleased with the exhibit and film screening, which had over 50 attendees despite the small size of the Portuguese and Brazilian Studies minor program.
“It is a really important moment to showcase what we do and try to catch other students’ attention,” Zocal Da Silva said. “[The students were] really excited and emotional, and engaged in trying to move forward with some type of action.”
Featured image: “We Are Guardians,” a featured event of Brazil Week, in H.J. Patterson Hall – Photo by Anika Stikeleather, October 1, 2024.