Hakani: A Survivor's Story
| Hakani: A Survivor's Story | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | David Loren Cunningham |
| Written by | Kevin Miller (story and screenplay) |
| Starring | Cast of Indigenous people |
| Release date(s) | 2008 |
| Country | Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
"Hakani" is a 30 minute movie alleging the occurrence of infanticide in tribal communities in Brazil. The plot synopsis is given as follows: "buried alive because her tribe thought she had no soul, Hakani was plucked from the grave at the last moment by her brother. Then forced to live as a social outcast for three long years until sickness and neglect brought her once again to the doorway of death."
“Hakani” was a privately-funded, independent production which seeks to support non-governmental organizations such as ATINI.[1]
For the production of the docu-drama, ATINI counted on a crucial partnership with the international missions training organization Youth With a Mission (YWAM) – known in Brazil as Jocum. Most of the docu-drama was shot at Jocum’s campus in the city of Porto Velho.
According to the movie, reasons for infanticide in the tribal cultures include physical or mental handicaps, being born a twin or triplet or being born out of wedlock.
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[edit] Production team
The movie was an independent production supported by a variety of organizations from Brazil and abroad. Directed by David Loren Cunningham, (The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, After..., The Path to 9/11).[2] Screenwriter, Kevin Miller (No Saints for Sinners, With God On Our Side, Trunk, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, After...).[3]
[edit] Public Ramifications
The movie is part of an infanticide prevention movement among Brazilian tribes and brought the issue into the public eye as far as the Brazilian Congress with a new law, Muwaji's Law, being proposed.[citation needed] The law would allow an Indian child to be removed from the tribe if this child deemed in danger of tribal traditions such as infanticide.[citation needed]
“Hakani” has been well-received among indigenous communities, with over 60 tribes having already watched the film. In November 2008 over 350 Indians, including chiefs from 7 tribes, gathered at the well-known Leonardo Outpost in Xingu Reservation for 2 days to discuss how indigenous families could be better educated about alternatives to infanticide.[citation needed].
In 2009, Sandra Terena, an journalist and documentarist with Indian heritage, decided to search deeper by herself after she watched “Hakani”. She was shocked to realise that her people still was practicing infanticide, and she produced an documentary called “Quebrando o silêncio”.[4][5][6]
[edit] Critics
The film has been challenged by the Brazilian government’s Indian affairs department, FUNAI, which has requested the involvement of Brazil’s federal police in investigating whether the film breaks Brazilian law.[7]
Other high profile critics of the film include Survival International. The organization claims that the film is a tool for evangelical Christian groups to increase their ability to spread religious belief despite the Brazilian government's concerns about their methods. Survival also claims that the issue of Amazonian infanticide has been warped and inflated so people think that baby-killing is common, whereas it says that the practice is rare and mostly comparable to the medical practice of infant euthanasia, which, according to Survival International, is a fact of life in Western society. It is also argued that: "When Brazil's Indian tribes are being forced off their land or killed by ranchers, miners and loggers...the infanticide issue is a destructive distraction.".[8] The criticisms above made by Survival International have been refuted by Hakani Project.[9] Bullying and sexual abuse among Brazilian Indians - as for certain in the whole society - was confirmed by the documentary "Quebrando o silêncio" (2009), made by Sandra Terena, journalist with Indian heritage.
[edit] References
- ^ "ATINI - VOZ PELA VIDA". http://www.atini.org. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
- ^ Dan Harris (2008-09-23). "Missionaries accuse Brazil of allowing infanticide". USAToday.com. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-22-infanticide_N.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ "School of Writing Dates & Speakers Announced". http://www.ywamwoodcrest.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=131&Itemid=13. Retrieved 2008.
- ^ "Breaking the Silence 1/3 www.youtube.com/vozesindigenas". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKFpcQB-qzo&feature=channel_video_title.
- ^ "JORNALISTA INDÍGENA SELECIONADA PARA O PRÊMIO JOVEM DA PAZ BRASIL 2009". ATINI. 2008-09-23. http://vozpelavida.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html#6150498846390248736. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
- ^ "Uma chance às crianças indígenas - Documentário questiona a tradição dos índios que se livram de um dos filhos gêmeos por acreditarem que o bebê é sinal de má sorte". correiobraziliense.com.br. 2009-10-08. http://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/app/noticia/brasil/2009/10/08/interna_brasil,147045/index.shtml.
- ^ Leonel Rocha (2008-07-03). "Funai tenta impedir veiculação de filme". correiobraziliense.com.br. http://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/html/sessao_18/2008/07/03/noticia_interna,id_sessao=18&id_noticia=16813/noticia_interna.shtml.
- ^ "Background briefing Hakani". http://www.survival-international.org/about/hakani.
- ^ "PROJETO HAKANI - O que é real e o que não é real". http://www.hakani.org/pt/news_projeto_hakani.asp. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
