Boi Fantasma, Parintins Encarnada

Abstract

In Parintins, a city located on the state of Amazonas, the month of June is marked by a folkloric festival in which take part the bois-bumbás Caprichoso (which uses blue color) and Garantido (which uses red color). In 2012 the Point of Culture Parintins Memorial Institute offered a workshop on drawing and digital animation whose aim was to create an audiovisual product using interviews with city´s residents about the festival´s early days. This initiative let to the short film Boi Fantasma (Phantom Ox). The film, which presents how the festivities happened at mid-20th Century, uses testimonies, old songs, and animated drawings ”“ done on digital format ”“ projected on the city´s nowadays buildings. In order to better understand the present city one needs to sums up what one glimpses on the present and individual and collective memories about it. Each built or natural environment is saturated with the experiences of persons that utilize such spaces. The article presents aspects of boi-bumbá merriments ”“ taking into account the Phantom Ox and the author´s own experiences ”“ linking them to the city and memory.