This project was born from the need to demonstrate the massacre of indigenous culture. The narrative emerges from the earth, representing the birth of a genuine being, in symbiosis with nature, who will go through a process of searching for identity. It is the fight for indigenous inclusion in society without giving up ancestry. “R-exist” is the hope of rebirth for the next indigenous generations.

A manifest performance of the artist and activist Zahy Guajajara, who tell us her life story to relate the journey of indigenous peoples’ struggle for “R-existence”. She speaks about the Guardians of the Forests, a group of Guajajara who fight for the preservation of the forests. Telling us how they resist to protect the Guajajara indigenous people; ancestors; and rituals. The Guardians of the Forest in Arariboia – Maranhão also protect the Awá Guajá, Indigenous who don’t have any contact with western civilization. The intensified deforestation caused by the fires set by groups of hunters and loggers is exhausting their water and food reserves. Since Bolsonaro became president of Brazil, five of the Forest Guardians have been murdered.

The film rescues the word “karaiw”, which means “civilized”, to question the constructed image of the “savage” and “barbaric” indigenous, an image rooted in coloniality. In the work, the invention of civility is put to the test along with the ideals of progress, intellectuality and modernization.

Brazil, 21st Century. An indigenous boy is born in an isolated village in the north of the Amazon. His mother and brothers believe that he is the reincarnation of Makunaíma, the creator of the world we live in, and that he would have returned to save the planet from the apocalypse. Seeking to understand about his origins and his mythical identity, the young Makunaima meets Ci, the mother of the forest, with whom he falls in love. When Ci disappears, Makunaíma decides to cross the country after the man who took with him the last memory of his great love: a magical seed with mysterious powers.

Brazil, 21st Century. An indigenous boy is born in an isolated village in the north of the Amazon. His mother and brothers believe that he is the reincarnation of Makunaíma, the creator of the world we live in, and that he would have returned to save the planet from the apocalypse. Seeking to understand about his origins and his mythical identity, the young Makunaima meets Ci, the mother of the forest, with whom he falls in love. When Ci disappears, Makunaíma decides to cross the country after the man who took with him the last memory of his great love: a magical seed with mysterious powers.