O som na mise en scène do documentário El árbol negro (2018)

memória, território e resistência Qom

Abstract

The documentary El árbol negro (2018), by Máximo Ciambella and Damián Coluccio, uses sound as a central tool to evoke the cosmologies and cultural resistance of the indigenous Qom peoples. The article investigates how sound acts as an extension of the mise en scène, creating layers of meaning that connect the viewer to the otherness portrayed on screen. Based on concepts by Michel Chion (2008; 2009) and Murray Schafer (2001) and using Aumont and Marie’s (2009) internal analysis as a methodology, we consider the film as an audiovisual text that articulates image, sound and structure to create meanings and propose interpretations, also dialoguing with studies of indigenous cinema. The study’s results reveal the role of ambient sound in the construction of an immersive and sensorial mise en scène, which interweaves environmental and mystical sounds with the noises of invading machines and, through “audiovisual effects” (Chion, 2009), reflects the tensions between the Qom worldview and agribusiness, with its devastating action. The sound design reinforces the indigenous people’s deep connection with the territory, while symbolizing the struggle against oppressive modernity.