In July 2023, the 3rd Chica Pelega Film Festival traveled through the Meio-Oeste region of Santa Catarina with an entire edition dedicated to quilombola memory — from the “O minuto que foi” workshop, made by the quilombo residents themselves, to the records of the Invernada dos Negros Remaining Community. Before reaching its symbolic destination, the festival passed through the schools: it was in them, and in their students, that cinema found an audience. A little of each home that opened its doors on this journey — and the link to the session that took place in each one, so you know what was screened.
Fraiburgo — July 7
EMEF Professor Eurico Pinz. The in-person journey began in the São Miguel neighborhood, at the municipal school that serves about 215 students in the final years of elementary school, with an approval rate of around 96%. It was there, at the edition’s premiere session, that the three shorts born from the quilombo workshop first appeared before the public — alongside works on Black memory and resistance.
Capinzal — July 10 and 11
In Capinzal, the festival went right into the school: one school’s auditorium welcomed students from three others, in a session made for the schools, over a morning and an afternoon of cinema for children and young people.
Escola Municipal Viver e Conhecer. Host of the sessions, it is one of the largest in the city: about 810 students and 85 professionals, from early childhood education to 9th grade. With almost four decades of history — it celebrated 39 years in 2025 — it collects good results in knowledge olympiads, such as OBMEP, and lent its auditorium to turn the school morning into a film session.
Escola Municipal Dr. Vilson Pedro Kleinubing. In the Parizotto subdivision, São Cristóvão neighborhood, it serves about 570 students from early childhood education to elementary school, with a staff of approximately 60 professionals. With more than two decades of history, it bears the name of Vilson Pedro Kleinübing, former governor of Santa Catarina.
Escola Municipal Ivo Silveira. A rural school in the Alto Alegre district, it brings municipal education to the countryside of Capinzal and honors another former Santa Catarina governor, Ivo Silveira.
Escola Municipal Ernesto Hachmann. In the rural community of Barro Preto, about 20 km from the center, it serves the final years of elementary school and gathers students from various rural localities — Engenho Novo, Vila União, Linha Pelizzaro, Linha Gramado and Barro Branco. The name is a tribute to the resident who donated the land for the school. A home for hands-on projects, it maintains a school garden and teaches children the basics of financial education.
Monte Carlo — July 12
EEBM Erci Dick. In the São Carlos neighborhood, the municipal elementary school, ranked among the best-rated in Monte Carlo, hosted a session that crossed the memory of the Contestado with local quilombola history — from the workshop shorts to the archive images of Invernada dos Negros. The night ended in a discussion circle about memory, territory and resistance.
Campos Novos — July 13 and 14
CEJA, annex to EEB Henrique Rupp Júnior. Back in Campos Novos, the Youth and Adult Education Center — a branch of the state school that serves about 660 students in the Senhor Bom Jesus neighborhood — hosted a session exclusively for students, articulating racism, justice and territory through works such as Pele Negra, Justiça Branca and the historical record of Invernada dos Negros.
Invernada dos Negros — Pinheiro Chato Hall. The closing took place where the edition is rooted: inside the Invernada dos Negros Remaining Quilombo Community, one of the most important in Santa Catarina. In the Pinheiro Chato Hall, the festival’s largest selection — seven films — was screened for the community itself and guests, followed by a discussion circle. It is not a school, but it was the largest classroom of this edition: the place where memory became screen, and the screen, an encounter.
To each school and each community that opened its doors, our thanks. To the teachers, principals, students and quilombola leaders: thank you for turning cinema into a classroom and the memory of the Contestado into an encounter.
