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Paper short abstract:

This paper analyzes the making of a documentary film with Bororo people following the screening of six classical films made about them since 1917. Building on twelve months fieldwork the paper explores how visual methods were beneficial to investigate the under-explored relationship between gender difference and social change in the Amazonian region.

Paper long abstract:

This paper analyses a research experiment realized with the Bororo people of Central Brazil. Wishing to understand how Bororo women and men experience and interpret social change, the study focused on the investigation of the spatial transformations on the moral topographies of the Bororo village plan. The Bororo village holds a distinctive place in anthropological literature for it represents both a source and the proving ground of key anthropological concepts, in particular in relation to Lévi-Straussian structuralism. Using film elicitation and film-making methods, this study created a space for debate with Bororo people who analyzed their visual history in relation to the current moral topographies of the village plan. The paper analyzes a research experiment of screening six classical films made about Bororo people since 1917 and discussing the relationships between gender difference and historical change. In addition to the use of film elicitation methods, this study explored film-making methods to create visual history with Bororo people. The paper describes the film-making process and analyzes local debates about how Bororo people should be represented in contemporary films. Building on twelve months fieldwork, the paper explores how the use of film-elicitation and film-making methods have been beneficial to an investigation of the under-explored relationship between gender difference and social change in the Amazonian region.