{"id":31699,"date":"2016-08-28T12:26:44","date_gmt":"2016-08-28T15:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=31699"},"modified":"2025-08-07T12:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T15:07:07","slug":"jongo-fever-afro-brazilian-cultural-resistance-in-madureira-film-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=31699","title":{"rendered":"Jongo Fever: Afro-Brazilian Cultural Resistance in Madureira [FILM REVIEW]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Directed by K\u00e1tia Lund and Lili Fialho and produced by Luis Lomenho, the film Jongo Fever<\/em><\/a>, (Portuguese title Ass\u00f3! Adorei o Jongo<\/em>) evokes the magic of dance, music, and culture of the Afro-Brazilian practice of jongo<\/a>. Part of Rise Up & Care\u2019s Festival Reimagine Rio<\/a>, the documentary tells the story of the art and\u00a0femininity of jongo. On Saturday, August 13, the film was premiered in the Casa do Jongo da Serrinha<\/a>\u00a0in the Serrinha favela in\u00a0Madureira<\/a> in the North Zone<\/a> of Rio de Janeiro, the very place where the film was made and where jongo\u00a0culture has been preserved\u00a0over the last 50 years.<\/p>\n

Jongo, a traditional Afro-Brazilian dance always accompanied by the beat of drums, \u201cbecame pregnant in Angola and was born in Brazil,\u201d according to a traditional jongo chant. When it was first practiced by\u00a0former slave communities known as quilombos<\/a>, it was often associated with spiritualism and was exclusively practiced by the community\u2019s elders. In the Serrinha quilombo, the male-dominated drumming practice changed when Mestre Darcy, one of the longtime leaders of Jongo da Serrinha, let Luiza, current general coordinator of the organization, play the drums. After opening up the world of jongo to women, he started passing on the culture to the children of the neighborhood. \u201cI persist because I know this culture will not die in Serrinha,\u201d Darcy says.<\/p>\n

\"Children<\/a><\/p>\n

Jongo Fever<\/em> follows\u00a0Serrinha’s children in their jongo classes and features interviews\u00a0with the community’s jongo teachers. Suellen, for example, calls herself a “guide” rather than a teacher\u2013she says she helps the children live rather than learn. For her, jongo is a way of life. She speaks of its importance as a communicative tool during the era\u00a0of slavery<\/a>, an\u00a0aspect of jongo she believes is still important today for residents of Serrinha.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the culture and art of jongo has suffered strong prejudice<\/a>. In a country where racism<\/a> is still prevalent, spiritualistic Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candombl\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0and cultural practices like jongo\u00a0are often highly\u00a0stigmatized. “When people see black people and drums, people see witchcraft<\/a>,” says Suellen.<\/p>\n

The women of Serrinha have actively fought against this racism and religious hate. For many of them, jongo is a cultural rather than specifically spiritual practice.\u00a0Tia Maria, one of the oldest leaders in\u00a0the community at 95 years old, is herself a Catholic. Luiza strongly opposes the stigma against jongo, saying percussion and drums have always been around, and were even present before our birth in the form of our mother’s own heart.<\/p>\n

\"Tia<\/a><\/p>\n

Featuring the group’s\u00a0soulful voices singing Jongo da Serrinha\u2019s most famous songs, Jongo Fever<\/em> takes\u00a0viewers\u00a0on a journey through the history of a culturally and historically loaded art form. “Pisei na Pedra<\/em>,” translated to \u201cI stepped on the stone,\u201d is one of the most well-known songs among Serrinha\u2019s children. Written by Mestre Darcy, the song evokes and calls for ongoing cultural\u00a0resistance<\/a>: \u201cLevanta meu povo \/ Cativeiro se acabou<\/em>\u201d (\u201cStand up, my people \/ Captivity\u00a0has ended”).<\/p>\n

The\u00a0filmmakers from Cinema Nosso<\/a> and Jabuti Films<\/a> have taken the strength and beauty of jongo and transposed it directly into their film. The importance of the movement and the dedication of the women of Serrinha is\u00a0captured with great sensitivity and depth, and\u00a0is an important documentation of a significant Afro-Brazilian cultural practice both for those involved and for a general audience.<\/p>\n

\"Film<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it is very important to see this film in cinemas so that people who don\u2019t know about it yet can learn about\u00a0jongo. They can come and get to know our house so that we can pass on this culture, so that people can see, for kids too\u2013that was the wish of my grandmother and uncle, to pass on this culture to kids and to those who didn\u2019t know about it,\u201d said Deli Monteiro, current director of Jongo da Serrinha whose grandmother and uncle were founders of the group, following the\u00a0film’s premiere on August 13.<\/p>\n

Suellen, who also attended\u00a0the premiere, said the experience of participating in this film was unique<\/a> and allowed\u00a0her and other participants\u00a0to see themselves, and their community, as the protagonists. “This space, which is also a marginalized space in the periphery… also has many good and positive things,” she affirmed.<\/p>\n

Watch the trailer here:<\/h3>\n