Film Screening and Discussion: Guardiãs do Jaraguá

The 35-minute documentary, directed by Roseane Rete da Silva and Ulisses Sulivan, and produced by Giovana de Souza Possignolo, follows Guarani Mbya women in the Jaraguá Indigenous Land, São Paulo, Brazil, and their struggles to protect their territory, women's football, and Guarani Mbya culture.

In one of Brazil's smallest Indigenous territories, surrounded by highways, condominiums, and skylines, the film explores the loss of the soccer field in the village of Pyau, a space that is essential for the social interaction, women's autonomy, and Indigenous cultural expression. This is an emblematic of the struggles of the Jaraguá Indigenous Land, which after been awaiting for demarcation since 2015, the demarcation was successfully ratified on the day the film was completed, May 8, 2025.

Furthermore, the film highlights the role of older generations in passing on ancestral Guarani traditions, as they too began playing soccer in the face of prejudice, passing the ball so that new generations could strengthen this space of resistance. These acts of passing the ball between women, the knowledge between generations, and land between legal categories run through the film as intertwinned struggles and forms of translating legal terms.

Guardians of Jaraguá was produced through a collaborative process, with partnerships built by Guarani women, peripheral filmmakers from São Paulo, and the researcher. The film was produced with support from SPCine and São Paulo's municipal culture secretary.

The screening with English subtitles will be followed by a discussion with the executive producer Giovana Possignolo and Fabian Steinhauer, reflecting on the production process and themes raised by the film.