SARACURA

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SARACURA

By Leena MANIMEKALAI

Horror - Development 2025

In the Amazon, the Saracura community faces poachers, corruption, and colonial scars. A skeptic, his partner, and a priest using forensic architecture unite to defend their land as a vengeful spirit rises—leading to a bold act of resistance on the river.

- Year of production
- 2025
- Genres
- Horror, Female director, Environmental
- Countries
- INDIA, CANADA, PORTUGAL, BRAZIL
- Languages
- BRAZILIAN-PORTUGUESE
- Budget
- 5 - 10 M$
- Duration
- 100 mn
- Director(s)
- Leena MANIMEKALAI
- Producer(s)
- Leena MANIMEKALAI (KARUVACHY FILMS)
- Synopsis
- Saracura is a Quilombola community in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, founded by descendants of enslaved people who fled their owners' brutality centuries ago. Today, Saracura faces relentless threats: land grabbers, corrupt farm owners, indifferent police, and now, ancestral spirits. To make matters worse, climate chaos brings new horrors—historic droughts, wildfires, collapsing land, vanishing livestock, and surging illnesses. The community teeters on the edge of survival.
  Miguel, Saracura’s leader, becomes the scapegoat for the murder of an environmental journalist and a lawyer who were working to expose land grabbers. Though Miguel knows the real culprits are those seeking to exploit the forest, the corrupt authorities use him as a convenient solution to their case. Framed for violence during a night watch, he is left with little hope of justice.
  Nathan, Miguel’s son, dreams of leaving Saracura for the city, where he imagines a life free from territorial disputes and ancestral obligations. But his plans are upended when his partner, Roseane, is possessed by the spirits of Saracura’s founders. As the skeleton of a 17th-century colonizer rises from the sacred grove, the community is forced to confront a battle from its violent past—one that now threatens their present.
  Desperate to save his father, Nathan reluctantly allies with Thomas, an Indian missionary and activist. Thomas uses Forensic Architecture—a cutting-edge practice combining forensic science, human rights, and technology—to expose the truth. Yet, even Thomas cannot help protect Roseane. To unite the community against the forces that haunt them, Roseane must surrender herself fully to the spirits, risking her consciousness and body to draw the strength needed for their final resistance.
  In a crumbling reality where the visible and invisible worlds collide, Saracura must reclaim its roots and fight for its survival and soul. With the skeleton of their history tied to the bow of their boats, they launch a final defiant procession, remembering that freedom must be sought by all means and in all forms—even if it demands blood.
  Genre: Eco Horror
  Language: Portuguese
  Subtitles in English
  4k | ATMOS | 100 minutes
- Partners & financing
- Karuvachy Films
  Santarém Federation of Quilombola Organizations – FOQS - Brazil
  Toronto Art Council
  Kaleidoscopic Teens (KTeens) – USA
  ERA Foundation