An educational short documentary by Zelito Viana that presents the long Belém-Brasília highway bringing the center region of Brazil
all the way to the North, a development constructed during the Juscelino Kubitschek years (it has a slightly yet silent tribute to the man that
escaped the military regime censors, who were firmly opposed to the man).
Unlike the unfinished Transamazônica created by the military and which would connect all the North states cutting plenty of spaces of
the Amazon forest, the Belém-Brasília was a successful case but not without controversies. Like many great enterprises destined to help
people, this one also caused problems with locals that were removed from spaces, or had to deal with a massive movement of folks from
all around Brazil to what once was a peaceful place; the deforestation that made animals lose their habits or end up getting killed on the
road; and while the film doesn't address directly, creating a sort of mystery about it, the death of one of its developers Bernardo Sayão,
killed on a freak accident when a tree was cut and fell right into his forest office - of which he asked to be moved as he wanted to get close
to the construction site.
Viana's short is filled with beauty through the poetry of many authors, intertwined with the director's own writings, along with the landscape images
of small progress coming to the North areas and Brasília, the locals observing the camera focusing on them and they don't know how to
react - a typical thing in countless similar films. It doesn't offer much of a critical take, neither feels too complimentary of everything. It's
often too sparse to form a unique view of everything, but it's not something that hurts the film; it just makes it a little empty. 6/10.
