We are delighted to welcome Cahal McLaughlin, Queen’s University Belfast, and Siobhán Wills, Ulster University for a screening and discussion of their documentary film ‘Right Now I Want To Scream: Police and Army Killings in Rio – The Brazil Haiti Connection’. All registered participants will be sent a link to the documentary, which will be available for streaming between 7 May and 10 May. At 1pm BST on 10 May, we will be joined by the filmmakers for a discussion about the film and the applicable law.
Film Synopsis
The documentary film ‘Right Now I Want To Scream: Police and Army Killings in Rio – The Brazil Haiti Connection’ visits the favelas of Rio de Janeiro which have had military interventions and are constant targets of police operations. The stories of the victims – mostly mothers whose children have been killed – are heard, using participatory practices. Also interviewed are community leaders from Mothers of Manguinhos, Redes da Maré, and Women in Action in Alemão. Expert commentary was provided by Fiocruz, the leading public health institute in Latin America, and the international human rights NGO Conectas. The film was produced using participatory practices in collaboration with mothers whose children have been killed during police operations in Complexo do Alemão, Manguihos, Complexo de Maré; and Salgueira. Janaina Matos, founding member of a group of Brazilian police officers campaigning against militarization, states that in Brazil ‘it has become normal’ for police ‘to enter a territory and treat the population as if it were a war enemy…Brazil’s security policy is not aiming to guarantee security for everyone, but just for an elite while oppressing the other larger number of the population, especially the black people.’ This film explores the relationship and close similarities between the militarised policing of favela communities in Rio de Janeiro and the militarised law enforcement tactics used by the Brazilian-led UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) between 2004 and 2007.
Trailer: vimeo.com/470924288
Panellists
Cahal McLaughlin is Professor of Film Studies at Queen’s University Belfast and director of the documentary Prisons Memory Archive (www.prisonsmemoryarchive.com). He has directed films in South Africa and Ireland exploring the legacies of state violence.
Siobhán Wills is a professor of law at the Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University, Northern Ireland. Her research interests are peacekeeping, international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Her current focus is the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti and connections to operations in Brazil’s slums.
