film

Directed by Ferran Domènech Tona, Sem Terra: La lluita per la terra al Brasil is a 55-minute documentary that explores the work of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), one of Brazil’s largest social movements. With a membership estimated at between two and three million, the MST campaigns for agrarian reform, and battles to redistribute unproductive estates and give landless communities the opportunity to cultivate their own land. Its approach combines political activism with agroecology, community organisation and a commitment to social justice.

Rather than simply charting the movement’s history, Tona takes a personal approach, travelling across several Brazilian states to meet around a dozen MST members and follow their everyday lives. Their testimonies offer an insight into the practical realities of collective organising, as well as the movement’s broader commitments to feminism, LGBTQ+ rights and international solidarity. The result is a timely examination of land ownership, inequality and the possibilities of grassroots resistance, and this screening is timely given the recent election in Brazil. The screening is followed by a presentation and discussion led by the director.