FILM
The documentary Mãos à Terra (Hands to the Earth, 80 min, Brazil, 2025) addresses multiple layers of the environmental struggle in southern Brazil — a region that served as a testing ground for the agricultural model based on pesticides and GMOs. Through the voices of resistance in the countryside and in the city — protagonists in the creation of Latin America’s first ecological agriculture market, the FAE (“Ecologist Farmers’ Market”), held weekly in Porto Alegre since 1989—and a vast historical collection, ranging from official records to personal archives, an essay is woven about collective action in the struggle for food health and biodiversity.
THE PROJECT
The development of the documentary “Hands to the Earth” began in 2018, as an initiative of a group of FAE regulars, mainly linked to cinema and visual arts. The relationship with the Market began to deepen in 2012, with the making of a short film called “Do you know where your food comes from?”. The transformative power of the documentary, of listening, of learning about the stories and paths that food takes to reach our plates, drives our desire to expand on this theme. Ecological awareness and healthy eating can cease to be a privilege and become a right for all people.
The film is being made independently and, over the past three years, has received support from the farmers and regulars at FAE through crowdfunding. We are currently in the final stages of production, financed with funds from Edital Sedac nº 01/2022 FAC Filma RS – Fundo de Apoio à Cultura – Pró-cultura RS FAC, Lei nº 13.490/10.
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