João Pedro Teixeira, Leader of the Liga Camponesa (Peasant League) of Sapé, in Paraíba, is executed by order of the landowners in 1962. Eduardo Coutinho begins to shoot a film about his life in 1964, using the peasants themselves in a fictional reconstruction of the political action which led to the crime. The shooting is interrupted by the military coup. Seventeen years later, in 1981, Coutinho resumes the project, seeking João's widow, Elizabeth Teixeira, and the other participants of the abandoned production. FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlinale of 1985.
Eduardo Coutinho
Eduardo de Oliveira Coutinho (1933–2014) was a Brazilian filmmaker and journalist. Many people consider him to be the greatest documentary filmmaker of Brazilian cinema's history. His speciality was to make films that favour the stories of common people, who he himself interviewed in front of the camera. His extensive and celebrated filmography includes, among others, The Mighty Spirit (1999), Edifício Master (2002), Playing (2007), Moscow (2009) and Songs (2011).
