Fordlandia

In 1928, Henry Ford founded Fordlândia in Brazil, a company town for a rubber plantation on the banks of a tributary of the Amazon River, which was to produce supplies for his car factories in the United States. Ford provided the workers and their families with houses, schools and other facilities, but also imposed impossible rules on them, both at work and in their private lives. In her film, Susana de Sousa Dias reflects on the past and present of this neo-colonial project, which lasted less than ten years in its original form.

Portugal, 2019
Length: 40 min.
Language: Portuguese spoken, English subtitles

Following on from her previous film Fordlandia Malaise, Susana de Sousa Dias conjures up the spirits that haunt this place in this documentary. Those who built the city and lost their lives in the process – to snake bites, infections, the scorching sun and exhaustion. Those who lived there but are no longer remembered.

But above all, the film gives a voice to those who live here now. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the population of Fordlândia has been growing. Recent archaeological finds show that the history of settlement goes back much further than Ford's utopian illusion, which should not dictate the future of this piece of land either. The images flow dreamily, as if the camera itself were a floating ghost, and sing Fordlândia free of its colonial stamp.

Portugal, Brazil  2025
Length: 62 min.
Language: Portuguese spoken, English subtitles