A CIDADE DAS MULHERES, MANDINGA EM MANHATTAN, ORIXAS DA BAHIA AVAILABLE ON DVD

I found a gentleman that distributes and sells the documentary on Brazilian Candomblé and Mae Stella,A Cidade Das Mulheres. He also has two other documentaries on Salvador da Bahia also directed by Lazaro Faria, Orixas da Bahia &Mandinga em Manhattan.His name is Eric Marinho and you can contact him via email or his cell phone:Cell – 310-259-5283Email – ericxcinema@yahoo.com

Here is what Ken Dossar at Temple University wrote about all three films:

BAHIA WEEK PREMIERS AFRICAN BRAZILIAN FILM FESTIVAL

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will host the premiere of three documentary films by Brazilian producer/director Lazaro Faria. A resident of Salvador, Bahia, Faria is an film maker/anthropologist who uses his video camera to teach about his beloved country. Faria is an expert story-teller with an artist’s eye and sensibility to color and detail. His most recent award winning productions focus on two very important African-Brazilian subjects – Candomblé and Capoeira. Two of the festival entries focus on Candomblé – the practice of Yoruba based spiritual traditions in Salvador. The third production focuses of the African-Brazilian martial art Capoeira Angola. This will be the first showings in North American of these productions. All films are in Portuguese with English subtitles.

A Cidade das Mulheres

The documentary “Cidade das Mulheres” The City of Women is an absolute joy to watch. This documentary, directed by Lazaro Faria, presents an intimate view of Mae Stella de Oxossi who is perhaps the most influential figure in African religious traditions in Bahia. She is the head priestess from Axé Opó Afonjá founded in 1910, and which is one of the most important “terreiros” or African-Brazilian spiritual communities in Salvador, Bahia. In a gentle, yet self-assured manner Mae Stella, who has always been ahead of her time, explains from a feminine perspective the history of Candomblé in Bahia, and the matriarchal system of power created and controlled by the women who practice these traditions. Mae Stella also reveals details from her own life story and how she was called to her position. A tribute the many notable women who appear in the film, “Cidade das Mulheres” also pays tribute to Ruth Landes, the North-American anthropologist, who in the during the late nineteen-thirties, came to Bahia to perform research and was surprised by the spiritual, cultural and economic power held by women in Candomblé. She published her findings – The City of Women in 1947. Her intimate thoughts and impressions are illustrated in this sensitive documentary by images of popular festivities which celebrate African spiritual traditions, and the stunning natural beauty of the city of Salvador.

Orixas da Bahia

“Orixas da Bahia” is a documentary by Lazaro Faria that, through short dance and music vignettes and animation segments, captures the essential characteristics of the major spiritual forces that form the pantheon of Yoruba religious traditions in Bahia. Called Orixas, these nature based entities spiritually guide the lives of the faithful. Each orixa with its individual color coded beading and costuming represents an aspect or force of nature, and is reverenced on a specific week day, with special offering, and songs. Faria’s film explores the continuation of the elaborate system of belief in West African goddesses and gods that was transferred to Brazil during the more than 300 years of enslavement. In vivid colors and entrancing rhythms Orixas da Bahia transports the viewer to the natural richness and spiritual energy of Bahia.

Mandinga em Manhattan

Lazaro Faria’s most recent documentary “Mandinga em Manhattan” tells the story of the internationalization of the African Brazilian martial art – Capoeira Angola. The film’s title refers to the “mandinga” or magical quality shown by masters when they perform this art form. “Mandinga em Manhattan” highlights one of the grand masters of Capoeira Angola Joao Oliveira dos Santos, who after many years of absence from instructing students, began teaching again and relocated from Salvador to Manhattan in 1990. Once demonized and outlawed by the Brazilian government, capoeira today is being recognized by Brazil as one of its most important cultural treasures. Through interviews with scholars and capoeira practitioners the history of Capoeira is placed into its proper context.