The feature-length documentary Fakir portrays the success of fakirism in Brazil, Latin America and France. This circus art origin show is presented and analyzed through archives that reveals the success of these presentations with their pain resistance championships and the great public presence, including politicians and government officials. Fakir spans current footage from contemporary artists who keep this art alive in performances and shows.

After being born Georgina in the outback of Bahia, she became known as Diva Rios in São Paulo’s Boca do Lixo and Rio de Janeiro’s Lapa, as well as Suzy King in the nights of Copacabana, but died as Jacuí Japurá on the border of the United States and Mexico. Four names for just one woman: fascinating, moody and very creative. Singer, songwriter, actress, ballet, folk, burlesque and exotic dancer, snake charmer and fakir were only some of the artistic endeavors she tackled during her life. Found dead on the trailer where she lived in August of 1985, in California, she left behind stories without conclusion, lost remainings of her troubled trajectory and a trail of mystery. Three decades later, two historians gather fragments of her tale with the goal of piecing together the complex puzzle that was her life. Actresses, singers, musicians and performers join them to rescue the poetic aspects of her unique personality. A question resounds throughout the entire movie: Suzy King, who are you?