Cine Defensoria presents education as a perspective for life for adolescents at CEIP Norte, Santa Fé do Araguaia, Brazil

With the restrictions imposed by the pandemic also in the socio-educative system, a programming out of everyday life and educational was the proposal of the public defender of the State of Tocantins (DPE-TO), which carried the project Cine Defensoria to nine inmates of the Provisional Detention Center CEIP Norte, in Santa Fé do Araguaia, municipality located 438 km from Palmas. The session included the screening of two short films on Wednesday, May 4th. The public defender Téssia Gomes Carneiro, executor of the project edition in the unit, said that the films My Friend Nietzsche (2012) and the series Melanina Sim (2017) were chosen because they highlight reading and overcoming racism in education. “The cine held in the unit adds to the project ‘Reading: a space for truth’, and at this time the proposed reading was the cinematographic language aimed at rights education, since the two short films were chosen from the catalogues of the Human Rights exhibitions,” explained the public defender.

A panel discussion after the screening of the films was led by Professor Valéria Medeiros, from the Federal University of Tocantins and the UNESCO Chair for Reading, and also by pedagogue Gislene Moreira from the DPE in Araguaína. “Providing these moments of education and reflection are essential for the socialization of adolescents, as we were able to rethink the future, as something better than today, considering the various possibilities for change that education brings. We do not speak in a utopian way, but within reality, where personal effort and the desire to change one’s life through education is necessary,” said Gislene. “Many times the system puts difficulties in our lives, but we can still succeed,” said one of the adolescents. “It is a great power, because many times the person has already given up on life.When we have these lectures we see that we still have strength to move forward, that there is still time to change,” said another intern. The Multidisciplinary Team of CEIP Norte was present at the session with the nine adolescents housed in the unit.

Films. According to the public defender Téssia Carneiro, the short films have scripts that dialogue with each other and bring a proximity with the reality of adolescents, according to the synopsis of the films:
My Friend Nietzsche (2012), directed by Fáusto da Silva – The plot shows the unlikely meeting between the boy Lucas and the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, causing a violent revolution in the young man’s mind, in his family and in society.

Melanina Sim – Episode “Overcoming racism through education” (2017), directed by Guilherme Bacalhao – In the series Melanina Sim, young black men narrate their experiences of racism and the actions they undertake collectively or individually to overcome prejudice and situations of social vulnerability that affect black youth. In the episode, Marivaldo retraces the trajectory that allowed him to overcome social exclusion and how he replaced the Minister of Justice on an interim basis.