Yãmĩyhex, The Woman-Spirit

Indigenous filmmakers Sueli Maxakali and Isael Maxakali use film to preserve the memories, experiences, rituals, and struggles of their people—confirming an existence denied by the Brazilian government. Long ago, in an act of rebellion and revenge, the Tikmũ’ũn women disappeared into the water, leaving only one girl. These spirit women, the yãmĩyhex, visit Aldeia Verde (Minas Gerais) for several months, returning again and again as they miss their families. In Yãmĩyhex, The Woman-Spirit, villagers enact this history, followed by documentation of the preparations, feasts, and dances that mark the spirits leaving once more. As in their This Land Is Our Land!, screened at BAMPFA last year, the Maxakali are concerned with both the physical and the mythological. It is “a film haunted by a myth, inhabited by the careful construction of rituals and celebration, moved by the force of a spiritual bond with every manifestation of life” (Sheffield DocFest).