Reparative Realism in ‘Dry Ground Burning’

This article investigates the reparative politics of resistance at the heart of the production model and formal strategies developed by Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós in the film Dry Ground Burning [Mato Seco em Chamas] (2022). Pimenta and Queirós propose an alternative to the tendency of global filmic realism to focus on the suffering of the impoverished. Their participatory approach fabulates heroic collective memories in the marginalised community where the film is set. I propose they are engaging with the Brazilian practice of gambiarra, a reframing of material and discursive possibilities given a lack of economic and/or social resources. By repurposing state financing to radically extend the duration of production, the filmmakers generate a reparative realism that expands the possibilities of World Cinema as well as the revolutionary ideals proposed by Third Cinema.