This Friday, October the 14th, please come join us for a fun night with Brazilian music, Food, drinks and of course great videos from our film. We also have student discounted tickets at the link below. click on the image and check it out!
One night during production, our crew was invited to film at the “Lady of Lapa” Festival Party on Araçatiba Beach. The Catholic Church there holds an annual party in honor of its’ Patron Saint, the Lady of Lapa. The festivities, some of which took place on the beach, included a beautiful candle light procession, various traditional dances, and a bingo game in addition to a lively auction, with all proceeds benefitting the church. The locals invited us to try some of their homemade dishes that they prepared for the party, including meat kabobs, local pastries, and a special version of hot sangria fruit wine. Everything was delicious.
The festival is rooted in local traditions dating back over 200 years. Everyone took part by wearing costumes and participating in the dancing, but the night ended with a not-so-traditional disco dance party that included a laser light show and the music of Lady Gaga, among other pop artists. Our Producer Bob was even able to share some of his American dance moves with the locals, and everyone had a good time. This night was proof to our crew that the rapid spread of global culture and technology has reached Ilha Grande which was highly isolated up through the mid-1990’s. In a few short years, its’ inhabitants have adopted the influences of popular culture and have managed to create an interesting mix of old and new.
One of the more interesting characters that we were able to interview for the film was a man named Renato. His home is hidden in the jungle, far from the bustling main streets of Abraão. He has lived here for more then two decades and has dedicated his life to protecting the rainforest and educating the public about the diverse ecology of the island. As a man of many talents and interests, Renato enjoys orchid hunting, beekeeping, and he has over 100 different plants growing on his property.
Renato is known on Ilha Grande for cultivating the honey of a unique type of bee that is the size of a small housefly. He explained to our crew that due to the bee’s small size, commercial exportation of its’ honey is impossible, but smaller artisanal markets in Europe have contacted him and they purchase his honey in small batches. We proceeded to a part of the yard that has various small boxes housing the bee colonies and he opened one up for us to taste the honey. These bees don’t possess stingers like traditional bees, but they can give a nasty bite with their mouth. As Renato opened the box with out any protective gear, not to mention not giving us any either, hundreds of small bees begin to fly out and we worried that they would bite us. As several landed on him, he remarked- “don’t worry, it only hurts for a second”.
The taste of the honey with hints of flowers, nuts, and fruits was unlike anything we have ever tried before. He explains that while most bees collect honey from several specific flowers, these “jungle” bees eat over 300 different kinds of plants and flowers, and this is what gives their honey such a unique flavor. After our introduction to Renato’s bees, he talked to us about his insights into the long and sometimes violent struggle to keep the rainforest from being exploited. He is uncertain of the island’s future but believes that the recent increase in ecotourism to Ilha Grande has helped educate the public on the importance of protecting the unique plants in the rainforest. He personally organizes trips for tourists into the rainforest and helps to connect tourists with locals like him that produce ecologically conscience products from the islands unique plants. He especially enjoys having tourists come to taste the honey that he produces.
The central hub of activity for our crew during our time in Abraão was the family home of Mariana Neder. Mariana, a filmmaker and Ilha Grande resident, knows everyone in Abraão, and her large home is an important part of the local community. She frequently has events at the house, and during the three weeks that we stayed there, she hosted a Reggae concert, Yoga and Samba classes, and a circus for the children of the village on her large outdoor patio.
Even though her home is a guesthouse, she does not run a tourist hotel. Our crew member Manuel was able to make contact with her through a friend, and we were thankful to be invited to stay. The setting on her back patio, surrounded by jungle vegetation and a small river, was a great source of inspiration for the team. On many a night after a long day of shooting, the crew bonded and shared stories over music, food and drinks while dancing the night away.
Mariana’s connections on the island the her relationships with many of the older people living in Abraão proved crucial in our journey to find people on the island that would help lead us to Man of The Monkey. After a few weeks time, she officially joined our crew as a Line Producer, and was a great assistance to our crew in securing interviews, and helping us to wrap up the last week of production.
After an unsuccessful trip to Man of the Monkey’s house, the next step was to see if we could find anyone that lived in the area. At a nearby property, we met a middle-aged man who seemed very nervous. He was apprehensive to talk to us and he kept looking down at the ground while asking us what we wanted. We proceeded to inquire about the dogs and the mysterious Man of The Monkey, but more specifically, “How could we reach him?”. I could sense fear in his eyes. He abruptly informed us that he couldn’t talk about that topic, and he just continued to look down at the ground, shaking his head.
Why was everyone so afraid to speak about Man of the Monkey? We were so close, but yet the closer we got, the more difficult and further we seemed to be from finding anything concrete about this mysterious man. We will have to come back another day, perhaps by boat from another side of Man of The Monkey’s property, but we shall see.
Notes from our visit to the Man of The Monkey’s house part one:
Today our crew took a trip in Minero’s boat to Lopes Mendes to search for Man of the Monkey. When we arrived on the beach and started walking the trail into the jungle, it quickly became clear that this place was very isolated and desolate. Abandoned properties were everywhere, including an old school, a small church, and a few family homes. At one point, there were up to 600 people living in this area, but it currently feels like a ghost town in the jungle. Nature has taken over the buildings, returning the abandoned concrete and mortar buildings back to the earth, leaving no traces of the people who once inhabited the area.
As we continued up the trail, we approached an old heavy steel gate. Our guide Paes told us that he believed this was where Man of The Monkey’s property started. We pushed the old rusty gate and everyone felt a bit uneasy, so the crew backed away. Along the road just past the gate, Paes scouted the area to try and find someone who could tell us if he still lived here. He said that he would blow his whistle to signal us to let us know if he was in danger, or if he found something.
There are many stories of people getting attacked by the Man of the Monkey on this road, so we were justifiably nervous for Paes as we waited for the whistle. 5 minutes pass, nothing. 10 minutes pass, still no whistle. All the sudden after 20 minutes, we hear the familiar shrill sound of a whistle, and Paes signaled us to approach. The crew nervously walked to where he was standing, and as we got closer, we heard the sound of barking dogs. At that point, our cameraman Bento attempted to get closer look, but he ended being chased by two large German Shepherds.
Hello to all of our friends and fans. Our crew has been very busy over the last couple of weeks wrapping up the bulk of our production in Brazil. We are now back home, and currently sorting through our footage from the trip. We look forward to continuing to share the story of our journey in Brazil and to keep you news over the coming weeks as we begin post production.
Stay tuned, there will be more to come soon…
In Abrao, we got a lead that told us where “Man of the Monkey” could potentially be found. We hired a local fisherman named Mineiro to take us in his boat to Lopes Mendes, a remote beach on another part of the island where we heard “Man of the Monkey” might be. On the boat, Mineiro told us that he used to sell bananas to the man, a lot of them…
