Skip to site content
Wed-Sun, May 17-21

DRY GROUND BURNING

  • Dirs. Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós
  • Brazil
  • 2023
  • 153 min.
  • NR
  • DCP

In Portuguese with English subtitles

  • Assistive Listening
  • Subtitled
  • Hearing Loop
DRY GROUND BURNING

Just released from prison, Léa (Léa Alves Silva) returns home to the Brasilia favela of Sol Nascente and joins up with her half-sister Chitara (Joana Darc Furtado), the fearless leader of an all-female gang that steals and refines oil from underground pipes and sells gasoline to a clandestine network of motorcyclists. Living in constant opposition to Jair Bolsonaro’s fiercely authoritarian and militarized government, Chitara’s women claim the streets for themselves as a declaration of radical political resistance on behalf of ex-cons and the oppressed. An electrifying portrait of Brazil’s dystopian contemporary moment that blends documentary with narrative fiction and genre elements, DRY GROUND BURNING reunites filmmakers Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós (ONCE THERE WAS BRASILIA) to offer a unique vision of the country’s possible future.

"An astonishing work of survival and resilience... packs a pulpy punch, yet is also rooted in an urgent political reality." —Phuong Le, The Guardian

"A furious, queer, boisterous gangster epic that offers a view of the country from the outskirts and turns oppression into resistance." —Leonardo Goi, The Film Stage

“A politically incendiary ethnographic sci-fi…. In DRY GROUND BURNING, the future isn’t just female: it is Black, lesbian, profoundly matriarchal.” —Ela Bittencourt, Sight and Sound

The Belcourt Theatre does not provide advisories about subject matter or potential triggering content, as sensitivities vary from person to person.

Beyond the synopses, trailers and review links on our website, other sources of information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense MediaIMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.


See the Official Website