Documentary film explores ancestral female traditions in Brazil

Filmmaker Labibe Araújo released the documentary As Benzedeiras in commercial cinemas across Brazil on Thursday, November 12.

The film follows the lives of five women from different regions of the country to examine cultural resistance, memory, and the practice of benzimento, a form of popular folk healing. The documentary features the stories of Josy Andrade, Camila Gomes, Dona Rosa, A-Yá Kukamiria, and Mãe Efigênia.

These women share their knowledge regarding the use of herbs, the performance of prayers, and the spiritual aspects of benzimento, which the filmmaker clarifies is a practice rather than a formal religion. Araújo notes that these traditions persist in both rural and urban communities as knowledge passed down through generations. Araújo chose to focus specifically on women because of her own upbringing in Pompéu, a town in Minas Gerais.

She recalls how her family relied on these spiritual practices during the 1990s when medical access was difficult. To reflect this focus, Araújo ensured that approximately 95% of the production crew consisted of women, many of whom were Black women. The filmmaker states that the project serves as a way for her to see herself represented on screen.