Brazilian Jogo de Corpo premieres after Easter

AfricAvenir in partnership with On Land Productions, presents the Namibian Premiere of the Angolan-Brazilian-Namibian film “Jogo de Corpo” on Wednesday, 08 April 2015 at the Goethe-Centre Windhoek.

The director of this film, Richard Pakleppa, and the Brazilian film crew will attend the screening.
In the film, a descendant of enslaved Africans, Capoeira Mestre Cobra Mansa, looks in Africa for what he does not have in Brazil. ”Jogo de Corpo”/”Body Games” tells a story of combat games, dances and music that connect Brazil and Africa from the time of slavery to the present. Jogo de Corpo/Body Games presents a sensual tapestry of combat games from both sides of the Atlantic. Jogo de Corpo/Body Games tells a story driven by Mestre Cobra Mansa’s need to understand the ancestry of his art form, Capoeira, as part of a wider concern with his Afro-Brazilian heritage. The search for roots starts in Rio where, as a 12-year old street child Cobra found survival and self-esteem in the games of Capoeira. He tells how through Capoeira he grew into Brazil’s black movement and discovered his identity as an Afro Brazilian.
By participating as a contestant in Capoeira and engaging with Capoeira masters from Rio and Bahia, Cobra takes us into a world of Africa in Brazil. It is the world of “Capoeira Angola” where Capoeira players kick, spin and dodge to songs that evoke African ancestors, the world of enslaved forefathers and masters and a mythical place called “Angola”.
In the real Angola, Cobra Mansa follows the traces of a powerful Brazilian myth about Capoeira’s African origins. This myth links Capoeira to a legendary Angolan game called Engolo – the Zebra dance. His search takes him to remote villages in southern Angola where Engolo players teach him “the art of bending with the wind” and tell of Engolo players who enter the game through being possessed by their ancestors. Through an exchange of Capoeira and Engolo in the dusty villages of Angola Cobra begins to understand the affinities and differences between combat games played on both sides of the Atlantic. Besides Engolo he finds other African combat games that remind him of 1970’s street fighting in Brazil. In southern Angola he also finds musical bows that are strikingly similar to the Brazilian berimbau, an instrument played by Capoeiristas.

Awards
Ousmane Sembene Prize ZIFF 2014
Best Editing Prize Portsmouth International Film Festival 2014.

A film by Richard Pakleppa, Matthias Röhrig Assunção and Mestre Cobra Mansa.

When: 08 April, 2015, 19:15, Venue: Goethe Centre Windhoek, Entrance: N$10.

Production Details:”Jogo de Corpo”/”Body Games”, Manganga Produções/ On Land Productions, 2013, 87 min. HD, Language: Portuguese with Sub-titled English.