Fire in the Mud
by Catarina Laranjeiro and Daniel Barroca
Documentary, 118′, 16:9, Color
Supported by ICA
Fire in the Mud is a film about the Portuguese colonial war as seen through the lens of Balanta political cosmology. With a strong tradition of resisting Portuguese colonialism, the Balanta ethnic group from Guinea-Bissau was the first to engage in an armed uprising. Mobilizing the spirits of the land through traditional religious practices was critical for their rebellious actions towards liberation. This film portrays the crucial role that such spiritual entities played in the heat of the battle, in the delicate negotiations for peace, and in the post-colonial imaginary of the colonial war as a historical event.
- Assistant Directors: Mamassaliu Na M’Baatcha (Sada) and Julio Na M’Baatcha
- Cinematography and Editing: Daniel Barroca
- Sound, Music and Mixing: Dídio Pestana
- Color Grading: Gonçalo Ferreira
- Graphic Design: Rui Silva
- Executive Producer: Catarina Laranjeiro
- Production: Rui Ribeiro, Elsa Sertório and Ansgar Schaefer
- Production in Guiné-Bissau: Queba Quebi
Catarina Laranjeiro (n. 1983) studied social psychology at the FPCE-UL (Lisbon), Cinema/ Moving Images at the Ar.Co (Lisbon), Visual Anthropology at the FU (Berlin) and completed her doctorate degree in Post-colonialism and Global Citizenship at the CES-UC (Coimbra). Currently, she’s a researcher at the Institute for Contemporary History of NOVA-FCSH (Lisbon). In keeping with an especially transdisciplinary career, she has authored and collaborated in a number of projects which connect research and theory with the artistic creation, crossing the fields of anthropology, theater and cinema. She directed the film PABIA DI AOS (2013).
Daniel Barroca studied Visual Arts at the School for Art & Design (Caldas da Rainha) and at Ar.Co. He was a resident artist at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut and at the Drawing Center in New York. He was granted a fellowship by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Botin Foundation and the Fulbright Commission, among others. At the moment, he frequents the Doctoral program for Anthropology at the University of Florida, where he’s developing research on the anthropological image and colonial war. Throughout his artistic career, he’s created projects of expanded and experimental cinema, which have been presented in film festivals and contemporary art spaces all over the world.
Synopsis
Fire in the Mud is a film about the Portuguese colonial war as seen through the lens of Balanta political cosmology. With a strong tradition of resisting Portuguese colonialism, the Balanta ethnic group from Guinea-Bissau was the first to engage in an armed uprising. Mobilizing the spirits of the land through traditional religious practices was critical for their rebellious actions towards liberation. This film portrays the crucial role that such spiritual entities played in the heat of the battle, in the delicate negotiations for peace, and in the post-colonial imaginary of the colonial war as a historical event.
Credits
- Assistant Directors: Mamassaliu Na M’Baatcha (Sada) and Julio Na M’Baatcha
- Cinematography and Editing: Daniel Barroca
- Sound, Music and Mixing: Dídio Pestana
- Color Grading: Gonçalo Ferreira
- Graphic Design: Rui Silva
- Executive Producer: Catarina Laranjeiro
- Production: Rui Ribeiro, Elsa Sertório and Ansgar Schaefer
- Production in Guiné-Bissau: Queba Quebi
Catarina Laranjeiro
Catarina Laranjeiro (n. 1983) studied social psychology at the FPCE-UL (Lisbon), Cinema/ Moving Images at the Ar.Co (Lisbon), Visual Anthropology at the FU (Berlin) and completed her doctorate degree in Post-colonialism and Global Citizenship at the CES-UC (Coimbra). Currently, she’s a researcher at the Institute for Contemporary History of NOVA-FCSH (Lisbon). In keeping with an especially transdisciplinary career, she has authored and collaborated in a number of projects which connect research and theory with the artistic creation, crossing the fields of anthropology, theater and cinema. She directed the film PABIA DI AOS (2013).
Daniel Barroca
Daniel Barroca studied Visual Arts at the School for Art & Design (Caldas da Rainha) and at Ar.Co. He was a resident artist at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut and at the Drawing Center in New York. He was granted a fellowship by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Botin Foundation and the Fulbright Commission, among others. At the moment, he frequents the Doctoral program for Anthropology at the University of Florida, where he’s developing research on the anthropological image and colonial war. Throughout his artistic career, he’s created projects of expanded and experimental cinema, which have been presented in film festivals and contemporary art spaces all over the world.