Cine Las Americas: BAY OF ALL SAINTS

‪Followed by a Q&A session with director Annie Eastman

“The documentary eschews stereotypical portraits of Brazilian slums as the festering ground for prostitution and drug trafficking. Instead, it seeks out the stories whose protagonists are moved to articulate their desire for basic human rights.” – Ela Bettencourt, SLANT MAGAZINE‬

‪ ‬In Salvador, Bahia, under the shadow of one of the Brazil’s wealthiest cities, generations of impoverished families have built their lives in a community of palafitas, shacks built on stilts over the ocean bay. Under a government program designed to reclaim and restore the bay, hundreds of families face forced relocation.

However, the process is uneven and leaves many palafitas residents unsure of their best options, especially given their limited resources. The stories of Geni, Jesus, and Doña Maria, three single mothers and their families, shape the narrative of BAY OF ALL SAINTS as they confront uncertainty and insecurity.

Each woman offers a perspective of hope and self-determination in the face of poverty and frequently dire circumstances. Over the years, as their palafita community is almost completely torn down and paved over, each begins in her own way to fight anew for the future.