Manas

Tielle is only thirteen when the rope on her hammock mysteriously breaks and she is invited to sleep next to her father. A budding nightmare begins as Tielle starts to understand for the first time why her big sister ran away and what awaits her little sister. A public secret lies just beneath the surface on the island of Marajó in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

Depicting a cycle of abuse in a fishing community on the island of Marajó, Manas is the sensational debut fiction by documentarist Marianna Brennand. The whole island seems to be in a state of cognitive dissonance. Pages describing human biology have been stapled together in schoolbooks, and the grocery store clerk turns off the television every time the characters in a soap opera are about to kiss. All the while one of the students is pregnant, and when Tielle tries to ask the clerk at the store for help, they just console Tielle by saying, “It will be over soon.”

Based on years of thorough research, the film is exceptionally authentic and harrowing in its depiction of the world through a child’s eyes. First-timer Jamilli Correa does a fantastic job as Tielle, who slowly starts grappling with the reality of her world. The film sticks to your skin like glue and stays on your mind for days after leaving the cinema.

Sanni Myllyaho (translated by Johanna Järvinen)