Arrow For a Stone Heart
A spell from the jungle comes to sweep us away, and we are delighted to go with it. Discover the story of Guaraní Mbya.
On the outskirts of São Paulo city, a train cuts through an indigenous territory. Within this territory, Jera dreams, and in her dreams the city invades her village. In the same community, Rete, an animal that can move through different dimensions, remembers the history of an ancient river, swallowed by the city centuries ago.
Director and cinematographer, Luiza Calagian, brings us into the heart and breath of the forest, where human beings, territory, nature, and spirituality mingle. Made in collaboration with a Guaraní Mbya indigenous community from São Paulo, with whom she has worked for over ten years, the film becomes a channel to reach its narrative: the way the Guaraní experience and narrate reality, in which myths, dreams, and relationships with non-humans connect different temporalities and perspectives, weaving the network that seduces and enchants us.
A hallucinatory trip, a (self)discovery journey, viewing cosmology and politics as deeply interconnected dimensions. A history of the community’s fight and struggle, where cinema emerges as a tool for enchantment and transformation, and maybe of understanding, letting us imagine a different future.
Javier Garcia Puerto
Biography
Luiza Calagian is a São Paulo-based director and screenwriter. Her short films have premiered and received awards at major festivals, including Oberhausen, Berlinale, DOK Leipzig, Hong Kong and Málaga, and her work has screened at Rotterdam, Visions du Réel, Guadalajara, FICCI, and Biarritz. Her debut feature, “Flecha Para um Coração de Pedra” (“Arrow for a Stone Heart”, 2026), was made in collaboration with the Guarani Mbya community in São Paulo, with whom she has worked for over a decade. She holds degrees from the University of São Paulo and EICTV in Cuba, including a Master’s in Creative Documentary. She is a Berlinale Talents alumna and founder of São Paulo-based independent production company Mata Fechada Filmes.
Filmography
Arrow for a Stone Heart (2026)