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FREEDOM IS NO FEAR

LIBERDADE É NÃO TER MEDO

By Mariana LUIZA

Female director - Development 2023

A Black girl, embodying the mythical enchanted coral snake, journeys through Brazil’s underground, unearthing forbidden memories and buried stories. Guided by Sueli Carneiro’s insurgent philosophy, she illuminates paths to rebuild a nation that denies its true self.

- Year of production
- 2023
- Genres
- Female director, First film, Documentary
- Countries
- BRAZIL
- Languages
- BRAZILIAN-PORTUGUESE
- Budget
- 0.3 - 0.6 M$
- Duration
- 80 mn
- Director(s)
- Mariana LUIZA
- Writer(s)
- Luiz SANTANA
- Cast
- Sueli CARNEIRO
- Producer(s)
- Heverton LIMA (Paideia)
- Synopsis
- Beneath the cities of Brazil, through forgotten tunnels, buried rivers, and territories erased by official history, a coral snake glides silently. Legend has it that when this mythical serpent finds its own tail, the country will be transformed. In Freedom Is No Fear, this journey materializes through the figure of the coral-snake girl, a presence that moves through both subterranean and symbolic landscapes, revealing the epistemicide and historical violence of Black erasure.
  The philosophy of Sueli Carneiro, a philosopher and anti-racist activist, forms the backbone of the film, guiding a rhizomatic, non-linear narrative that stitches together past and present. The documentary reconstructs fragments of buried knowledge and exposes a Brazil that insists on burying its own history. From the excavations of Quilombo Saracura to the underground galleries of Avenida Paulista, from the deep waters of the Baía de Todos os Santos to the preserved legacy at Casa Sueli Carneiro, the camera descends into the depths, searching for traces of a memory that refuses to be erased.
  Light emerges from below, revealing forgotten layers, while fantastical and documentary interludes create narrative and sensory breathing spaces: a woman playing the atabaque at dawn, a congada captain sounding his gungas against ancient stones, a home video of a Black child on their first day of school. The fragmented, spiral-like editing reflects the cyclical nature of Black memory, rejecting the linearity imposed by Western thought.
  In documentary footage and voiceover, Sueli Carneiro directly addresses the viewer: "I speak to you from the place of a slave." The film embraces this urgency, challenging the audience to confront the racist and patriarchal structures that uphold Brazil. It is not just about remembering the past but about unearthing what whiteness has tried to bury. The film does not seek definitive answers but rather provokes questions: If all memory insists on returning, how long will Brazil continue to run from its own history?
  As the coral snake continues its journey through Brazil’s labyrinths, one question remains: when will it find its own tail? When will the country, at last, be enchanted and recognize its true identity? Freedom Is No Fear is a deep dive into the submerged layers of our history and a call to action. The serpent moves forward—because transformation has not yet arrived, but it is near.
- Partners & financing
- The film already has brazilian partnerships: a distribution company, California Filmes, and a company called Product Placement House, that helps integrate content and brands.
  
  The film already has about 40% of the fundings seccured by the goverment instituitions Ancine and Spcine.
  
  Currently, we are searching for co-producers, sales agents, and investors.
- Production schedule
- Shooting: January to March 2023
  Post production: April to October 2023
  Premiere: 2024
- Beginning of shooting
- Jan 01, 2023
- End of shooting
- Mar 31, 2023