By some estimates, there are over 25 million rural workers struggling to survive without access to land or other occupational opportunities in Brazil. In 1984, the MST was formed, together with activists from other groups, as a response to the realities of rural life. People began to organize large-scale land occupations as a physical lobby to ensure that attempts at land reform be carried out. Since its inception, "Land, Agrarian Reform and a More Just Society" have been essential to the movement's objectives, and so the MST model entails coordination on all levels.

 

Currently, the MST claims 1.5 million members organized in 23 out of 27 states. Land titles have been won for over 300,000 families to date, while roughly 500,000 people are currently waiting for government recognition in MST camps. In order to illustrate the positive aspects of the Sem Terra movement, we have established a relationship with a cooperative called Cooperativa Assentamento Terra Livre (Cooperative Settlement of Free Land, COOPCAL), located in Nova Laranjeiras (Parana), that has been working with the MST since it's inception in 1984. A farming community of 26 families, they began their struggle as migrant workers and city slum dwellers until they mobilized to find land. As a community, they spent roughly two years waiting under black plastic tents in Campo do Bugres, a temporary settlement of 1,000 families that still exists today. During that period, they targeted a piece of land that would accommodate their families and consolidated their ambition to form a cooperative of their own. After ten years of fighting and negotiating with both the landowner and the local government, they were finally able to secure a deed to the land. They have been settled now for close to five years and maintain a thriving, sustainable community. The personal stories of these people will provide the framework for this film.

 

Agrarian reform in the context of Brazil is essential to address because of its capacity to serve as a model for development worldwide. The Guatemalan Labor Movement, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, the Zapatistas of Mexico, and land reformists in South Africa, China and Zimbabwe are all struggling with similar plights. This film will aim to provide others with a framework to reach their own goals. It will create an intimate and compelling portrait of the success of a social movement in order to inspire and activate others.

 

Unfortunately, when MST voices do manage to carry beyond the confines of their own locale, they are often distorted or diminished by the media. A key objective in making this film and seeking wide distribution is to amplify this muted voice. Oftentimes, violence is portrayed in the media as a principal instrument of the MST's struggle. Although it is a reality, it is important to note that it stems from both sides. For example, statistics from the Comissão Pastoral da Terra (Pastoral Land Commission) reveal that between 1985 to 1999, 1,517 rural workers have been killed in Brazil while negotiating land reform. This film intends to go beyond the violence and focus instead on the positive aspects of what the people of the MST have been able to accomplish in spite of the many obstacles they are facing.