Carolina Moraes-Liu

(Carolina Moraes Ramos Liu)

Carolina Moraes-Liu has been producing documentary films for the past twelve years. She sees documentary filmmaking as a means to educate and empower people, and she believes documentaries can be used as an instrument for social change. Carolina was born in Bahia, Brazil, and holds a Master's degree in Radio and Television from San Francisco State University.

email: productions@documentario.com

 

Filmmaker's Statement

Ebony Goddess: Queen of Ilê Ayiê
Director, Editor, Cinematographer and Producer

I am from Bahia, but I have been living in the United States for most of my adult life. In 1999 I went back to Bahia after being away for almost 7 years, and I started to notice a shift in how women dressed and wore their hair -- the presence of braided hair on the streets was especially remarkable. The next year I returned again to shoot a documentary about the local carnival, called Festive Land: Carnival in Bahia, and I had the opportunity to spend a couple of very special days with the group Ilê Aiyê.

Ilê Aiyê is more than a carnival group. They have year-round social projects that help thousands of people in the neighborhood, aiming to propagate black culture, raise self-esteem, and develop consciousness regarding racial discrimination issues. Ilê Aiyê's carnival parade features a young woman called the Ebony Goddess, selected for her beauty according to Afro-centric standards of beauty, her mastery of African-originated dances including religious Candomblé dances, and her ability to inspire others through her personal history.

I spent much of Saturday of carnival inside Ilê Aiyê headquarters, which is also a Candomblé house of worship, and home of Dona Hilda, a Candomblé priestess and mother of Vovô, the founder of Ilê Aiyê. That was the first time I saw up close the process of preparing the Ebony Goddess, selected just a couple of weeks earlier, to be presented to the local community. There was an incredible energy that came from the pride felt by each participant of the group. This was their defining moment, wearing afro-Brazilian clothes, dancing and singing the songs of the group, and showing to the rest of the world that they were proud of themselves and their culture.

Every time I go back to Bahia I notice that more people are willing to openly talk about discrimination and fight for their rights. There is still a huge portion of the black population that follows Euro-centric standards of beauty, straightening and coloring their hair so they look as white as possible, but there is also an ever-increasing number of black women who proudly display their black identity. I hope the situation continues to improve, and that my film contributes to the evolution of how black women see themselves.

Jennifer Cebenoyan

Jennifer Cebenoyan is a film producer with strong business background.  She views the media of film as a vehicle for positive social change. Her interests center around social issues, particularly environmental sustainability, in the United States and throughout the world. Jennifer has managed to combine her love for the arts with the advocacy and managerial skills acquired during years spent as a professional finance and accounting director. She participated in the production of the documentary Victor Frost and in the post-production of the documentary Ebony Goddess: Queen of Ilê Aiyê.

email: jennifer@documentario.com

 

Lisa Earl Castillo

Lisa Earl Castillo is a post-doctoral researcher at the School of Music of the Federal University of Bahia, and she holds a PhD in Literature and Cultural Studies. Lisa is the author of “Entre a Oralidade e a Escrita: a Etnografia no Candomblé da Bahia,” a study of the role of writing in Afro-Brazilian religion. Her interests also include popular music, and she co-produced the anthology CD, “Rough Guide to the Music of Brazil: Bahia.” She worked as associate producer and ethnographic consultant for Festive Land: Carnaval in Bahia and Ebony Goddess: Queen of Ilê Aiyê.