IMAGES OF THE landless: THE REPRESENTATION OF THE MST IN DOCUMENTARY FILM
Documentary; Film Analysis; MST; Agrarian Reform
This study investigates the image of the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) within a corpus of fourteen Brazilian documentaries, examining the aesthetic strategies deployed in the representation of its struggles. The investigation is based on the proposal of a comparative film analysis method, organized into two movements: i) a panoramic analysis, which employs filmic cartography (inspired by Deleuze and Guattari) to map narrative, aesthetic, and institutional aspects; and ii) an in-depth analysis, which conducts comparative readings within three groups defined by the MST's level of proximity to the production: full authorship, co-production, or an external gaze. The theoretical framework is grounded in the studies of rural sociology (Pompéia, 2021; Wanderley, 2009), film analysis (Vanoye & Goliot-Lété, 1994; Motta, 2013), and the history of Brazilian documentary cinema (Bernadet, 2003; Teixeira, 2004), complemented by primary sources such as documents and interviews. This study stems from the hypothesis that the representation of the MST in documentaries transforms historically. The analysis confirms that this representation evolves from a focus on the denunciation of violence and poverty to the celebration of abundance and political-organizational success. This transition is directly linked to the process of appropriation of the means of audiovisual production by the movement itself, allowing it to forge self-representations that contest and complexify hegemonic narratives.